Golden Glass
by Ikazuchiru
Summary: Tessa and Aria just wanted to check out the Harvest Festival. However, that took a turn of events and both joined Fairy Tail. Now, they have to go through a series of events to protect their new family. Will love blossom between them and the two temperamental dragon slayers of Fairy Tail? Gajeel/OC Laxus/OC
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! I decided for the first time to create a Fairy Tail fanfic. I have very exciting ideas for this that I'm really looking forward to, however, that can only happen if I have your support! Let me know what you think. I already have more chapters but I'm still revising them before posting them. Hope you enjoy!

Authors Note: hey guys! I had to edit out the ages. I realized that it didn't make sense for them to have been together for 12 years after the dragons disappeared in x777. So! Aria was 13 years old when she came across Tessa. It is now year x784 and she's 20 years old. Tessa's physical body is also "20"

Authors note: Last thing to add, this is not a rewrite of the series. It's my own version with two of my own characters added into the mix. The only arcs I'll be covering are Fantasia, Edolas, Tenrou Island, and the Grand Magic Games. I may mention the other ones, maybe not. But those four arcs will be the main focus of this story.

I own nothing, just my two OCs

Chapter 1: Roads Meet

"Are you sure we are going in the right direction?" An annoyed sighed followed the question. The young woman ran a hand through her silver locks, making her already wavy hair even messier. She wiped the sweat that was starting to form by her dark eyebrows thanks to the hot weather that had snuck on them. Her golden eyes narrowed as her companion let out a giggle at her annoyance. Her companion didn't have to turn around for her to know she was smirking at her.

"Of course I know!" She replied. Her voice was an octave higher as she tried to contain her giggles at her friend.

The silver haired girl let out another sigh as she put her hands inside her cargo pants as she stopped walking, "Why did I let you convince me into this?"

Now it was her companion's turn to let out an annoyed sigh, placing a hand on her shoulder as she turned around and shook her head in mock shame.

Green eyes shone in mischief as they clashed with gold, "I worry about you."

Her golden eyes widened as she spluttered, "W-what?!"

Her friend tossed her long golden-brown hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms under her voluptuous chest, "You forgot to have fun! Haven't you heard the rumors about their Harvest Festival? Besides, it's the perfect time to see if their fire dragon slayer knows anything about my mother."

Being chastised for not knowing anything or being informed was rather an often occurrence that Aria had well accustomed to throughout the years. The woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she pinched the tip of her nose, "We've been almost everywhere in Fiore. Don't you think we would've heard something by now Tessa?"

Tessa's green eyes widened and then slowly lowered her gaze. She was quiet for a moment before she returned her gaze to her companion, to her best friend.

"I can't just give up Aria. She taught me everything I know. The fact she left me suddenly all those years ago… I can't give up yet."

Aria's golden gaze turned sympathetic as she gave her a miniscule smile. She felt a small pinch of jealousy in her chest but quickly pushed it away.

 _Not right now_ , she solemnly thought as she sighed.

"Fine! We'll go to the guild and ask the lizard if he knows anything and we'll see the festival. After that, we'll continue to go west."

Tessa's eyes turned a brighter green as she turned around and continued forward, following the road sign that read 'Magnolia- 2 miles.'

Aria shook her head at her friend's childish attitude and smiled. She mentally hit herself as she thought back to the small pang of jealousy she felt when Tessa had spoken of her mother. It was something that Aria wished she had with her own mother, but she never got that chance. She was an orphan at such a young age and she had been placed under her mother's sister when she was a few months old.

Or how she preferred to call it, her own personal hell.

Just thinking back to it was leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

 _Wish I could wipe my memories_ …

Aria never understood the meaning of family until she met Tessa. They had both met at thirteen years old when she found Tessa crying during a storm because she was looking for her mom. One look at the girl and she knew she had to help her. She left with her that night with the only belongings being the clothes she was wearing and a locket around her neck. Although both had held different lives before, Tessa living most of her childhood with a loving dragon and Aria in an abusive home, their lives revolved around each other after they met. They trained together, although Aria held bitterness towards her own magic. Many didn't think she was a wizard, since the age of sixteen she started relying solely on hand to hand combat and her speed to get jobs done. Their dynamic worked well, since her best friend lacked somewhat on hand to hand combat. Tessa's magic had saved her multiple times and Aria's speed and close combat training saved Tessa many times as well.

They traveled everywhere they could and not once did they ever join a guild. The few times they came close to do so, they always would find some sort of dark secret or they didn't like the guild's rules and sense of guidance.

They had heard rumors about what some people would say about them. Many referred to them as the Gipsy Sisters, since they never would stay in one place for long. It was in one of their jobs that Tessa had heard about the annual Harvest Festival in Magnolia. The young woman practically begged Aria for them to head in that direction.

Aria wasn't convinced, since she knew Magnolia was the hometown of the infamous guild, Fairy Tail. But Tessa played dirty and it wasn't until her eyes were shining with tears, threatening to fall at any second, that Aria agreed to go.

 _Seven years later and they still affect me,_ she thought bitterly as she raised her hands in surrender.

Tessa's smile grew tenfold as she heard Aria that without warning, she grabbed Aria's wrist and started dragging her over the hill, knowing well that Magnolia would become visible after going over it.

Any information that they had gotten regarding the guild, completely went out the window the moment they officially set foot in Magnolia. They could hear the crashes of buildings and the rise of magical energy as a negative aura filled the air. They had heard that both, the guild and the town, were filled with joy and that Fairy Tail was a huge, close knitted family besides it being the strongest guild of Fiore.

Aria snorted as she looked through the side of an alley as she saw Fairy Tail wizards battling with each other, "If this is how they bond, I rather not go."

Her tone was dry as she stared at them with a bored expression. She felt a hard smack on the back of her head as Tessa hissed, "Shut it! This doesn't look like a friendly fight at all."

Aria rubbed the back of her head as she looked at the wizards again, "Magical runes is what's trapping them."

"Let's go to their guild. Maybe we'll know what's going on then."

Before Aria could object, Tessa was already running down the alley towards where the guild was at. With a heavy sigh, she made sure her backpack was securely on her back and took after her friend.

They didn't have any difficulties finding the guild, since from the distance, they could see the flag at top of a tower with the guild's symbol on top of it. As they finally were walking on the rocky path, they could see a few figures standing by the entrance. They could see a pink haired man hitting, from what it seemed like, a barrier with his hands engulfed in flames.

Aria snorted, "Well, I guess we found the fire breathing gecko."

Tessa's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected to find him so quick. After they had seen some of the battles, she thought that the dragon slayer would be somewhere out in town, participating as well.

Gajeel was the first one to spot them since Natsu was too angry to pay attention. He couldn't blame him however. Being stuck inside the guild while everyone else was out battling trying to save the girls was rather irritating. It's not because he actually cared what was going on with the guild. For crying out loud, he had utterly destroyed their previous building and beat the crap out of three members. But times were hard however, and decided to listen to Juvia into joining the guild. At the end, it benefited him being in the guild after speaking to Makarov.

The guild was never boring, he had to give them that much. He was more infuriated that he was missing out on the action. Fighting came as second nature to him. He wasn't sure if it was because of being raised by Metalicana or what, but he loved fighting.

But sometimes fate changed things and now he was stuck with the biggest idiot he had ever interacted with. Natsu may be a strong fighter, but in his opinion the kid lacked common sense and among other things.

He couldn't believe that the entire guild had been brought down and leaving him and Natsu as the only ones left. He noticed the two girls continuing to make their way to the guild that he decided to catch the Master's attention who was currently looking over at the stage with the women transformed in stone.

"Old man," he all gruffly said as he removed his arms from his chest. Makarov turned his serious expression to Gajeel who was only pointing a finger to outside. This caught the attention of both Natsu and his blue haired cat, Happy.

"Who are they?" Happy curiosly asked as he leaned on Natsu's shoulder. Gajeel's red eyes narrowed as he felt the all too familiar aura of a dragon slayer, which was coming from the green-eyed girl.

The green-eyed beauty smiled at them as she finally stopped right at the entrance, "Hello!"

Makarov stepped forward as he annalyzed them. The brown haired girl was slightly shorter than the one with silver hair. She held a very energetic vibe, her green eyes vibrant and wide in anticipation. The other one seemed to be the total opposite. Her golden gaze was narrowed as she felt his gaze on them. They were both young and very confident on their stance, although one was more stiff than the other.

Just on how it was obvious that their personalities were different, so were their clothes. The green-eyed girl was comfortably soaking in the sun in a simple blue tank top and tan shorts. Her feet were gracefully covered by a pair of sandals, the straps going across her calves keeping them be secured. The other girl was wearing green cargo pants, her combat boots going pass her ankles and a tight black shirt. As he looked into their appearance, he knew the two women had been on the road for some time. From what he could see at least, neither of them had a guild mark on them, which was unheard of within the wizarding community. He tried his hardest to give them a warm welcome to his guild, but under the circumstances that his grandson had created, he was having a tough time to look at anything with positivity.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail," he said with as much enthusiasm as he could possibly muster.

The green-eyed girl spoke up, "I'm Tessa and this is my best friend Aria. We came to see the Harvest Festival, but we couldn't help but notice all the fighting that's been going around town. We thought we would come here to see what was going on."

As the Master opened his mouth to reply, he was practically shoved by a rather enthusiastic person.

"Hi! I'm Natsu and this is my partner Happy!" he loudly said with pride, "This is our guild Master Makarov and the long-haired idiot is Gajeel."

A loud growl was heard from behind Natsu, "You're one to talk!"

The old master let out a heavy sigh. The disappointment of his grandson was growing rapidly, mixed with shame and embarrassment. Here he had possibly two new members that wanted to join his guild. But now what could he possibly say? He couldn't lie. There was no way he could. He motioned for the two women to follow him to one of the wooden tables and as they sat down, he told them everything.

They gave him their full attention as they listened to his story. How Laxus, his grandson, had taken over what was supposed to be a joyous day. He sadly looked at the stage as he continued, his eyes falling on all the women that had been turned to stone.

Natsu had gotten bored of the conversation and decided to walk away. Gajeel had decided to sit on a chair with his head leaning

By the time that he was done, Tessa had already come to the conclusion that she wanted to help them. However, she knew to convince Aria would take some time, but she knew she could convince her.

Just when she was going to ask to have some privacy with Aria, commotion on the stage made the three of them turn. It seemed that Natsu had enough, to the point that he was going to try to melt the stone off of one of their most powerful mages, Erza.

"I was hoping I didn't have to and I would finally have the chance to show her up. Man this sucks!"

Makarov's eyes widened as he yelled at Natsu not to do it.

Aria cringed as she saw Natsu's hands being engulfed in flames, "I don't think that's going to work."

Not soon after she said that, a crack was heard coming from Erza. It sent Natsu and Happy into panic while Gajeel was continuously screaming at him. He could only imagine the fury that Erza would have. Suddenly, the stone covering the Requip Mage disappeared and she stood in front of them back to normal. She was disoriented for a little while, but then

Tessa noticed right away hope fill the Master's eyes as he was holding back the tears to see Erza ok again.

It wasn't until Makarov was done talking to her that she finally realized there were other two women in the room with them. She was taken aback but she quickly introduced herself before continuing to the front door.

"I will defeat Evergreen, all of you stay here and keep a watch on the girls."

However, the runes updated the moment she was walking away that there were four contestants left. Tessa figured since her and Aria weren't part of the guild, the game wasn't counting them in. Gajeel and Natsu were stuck within the barrier and Erza was out of the spell. She was curious to know who was the fourth one.

Erza smirked, "Perfect timing for him to be back in town. He always wants to make a great entrance."

Gajeel crossed his arms, "Someone mind filling me in?"

"We are talking about a man who may be one of the strongest wizards FairyTail has ever had. Mystogan."

Natsu and Happy cheered at the mention of the wizard. Makarov let a sigh of relief, truly believing that the mysterious man could defeat his grandson. With one last look at them, Erza took off running in her maid outfit in search of Evergreen.

The minutes seemed to pass but felt like hours after Erza left. When the runes were showing the update on the battle of Erza and Evergreen, Natsu was viciously cheering for Erza.

Aria couldn't help but shake her head at the antics of the fire slayer and decided to take a nap.

Gajeel's eyes hadn't left Tessa's figure the whole time. He knew his nose wasn't fooling him. The scent was too familiar and he could feel his inner dragon shifting in the back of his mind at the scent. He didn't realize what he was doing until he was right behind her.

"What kind of dragon slayer are you?" Tessa all but heard a rough whisper by her ear. She had been so distracted by Natsu's cheering she never heard the iron slayer approaching her. Her eyes turned to the side, glad to see that Aria had decided to take a nap on the bar table.

Gajeel He was glad the nutcase was too busy paying attention to the runes. He didn't need him pestering him as he was trying to get some information on the woman in front of him.

She turned to look at him but as soon as she opened her mouth, Natsu interrupted her.

"Erza won!"

Suddenly, they could hear the stones breaking, releasing the confused girls. Pieces of stone flew everywhere as each one of them looked around, still clad in their bikinis or outfits from the "Ms. Fairy Tail Competition."

Makarov, Natsu, and Happy quickly went to them, tears of joy almost coming out of their eyes. All the girls were unharmed but completely confused. Some of them had slight headaches but other than that, they were ok. As they were being filled in, Natsu jumped in, declaring that the 'tournament' should continue now that there weren't any hostages.

Lucy rolled her eyes at her partner when they finally fell on the two women that were by the bar. One had her eyes closed and the other one was just letting them talk. Tessa had decided to stand by Aria as all the women were filled in with more details of the situation. She paid no mind to the fact that Gajeel followed her along, with no intentions of checking up on them.

She had never seen them before, not even around Magnolia.

"Master, who are they?"

He all but glanced at the other two women before answering, "They came to see the Harvest Festival but saw all the battles outside of our guild members."

That automatically brought the attention of the other women to them. Tessa could feel a small blush spreading across her cheeks as she could feel all their eyes on her and Aria. She never did too good with attention to her. Mirajane was about to start talking to them when the runes on the barrier started floating in the air. The color purple was gone and now they were a crimson red. As the runes shifted, it created a skull head right in the middle of the guild.

Aria woke when she heard a booming voice. It was arrogant and cocky and her guess it belonged to the Master's grandson. She blinked in surprise since she didn't hear the girls coming back to life. She blamed it on the lack of sleep she had the past few days. Her golden eyes turned to the attention of the oversized skull.

"I have decided to activate the Thunder Palace!"

Makarov's anger grew dramatically, "Are you out of your mind Laxus?!"

"You have one hour and ten minutes. If you want to win, you better get moving. Unless you're ready to hand over the guild to me old man."

As the skull disappeared, the Master collapsed on the ground in pain. All the girls reacted quickly, with Mirajane going for his medicine. A petite blunette quickly placed the Master's head on her lap while a green haired girl tried talking to the Master to keep him conscious. Tessa looked over at Aria and the shine that they were holding earlier that day was gone.

"We need to do something."

Aria brought up her knee and rested her elbow on it as she looked at Tessa, "Just break the barrier."

Natsu and Gajeel's heads whirled around to look at the women, since they had heard them perfectly. But before they could even ask anything, Mirajane came back with the medicine, but with a look of worry on her gentle face.

"You guys need to look outside."

Natsu took the lead as everyone else followed him, with Mira and Levy staying behind with the Master. When they reached the balcony on the roof, their eyes widened at what it was up in the sky. Three hundred lightning lacrimas were surrounding the city.

Aria's heart dropped to her stomach as she knew what the spell was about. She was about to say something after another girl had finished explaining the spell, on how once activated they would burn everything, when the green haired girl shot and destroyed one of them.

Aria bit her lip since it we just a matter of seconds now. The fear on the back of her head was stopping her from doing something, so she went towards the better option in the situation.

"Tessa, cover her now!"

Tessa's green eyes widened and without questioning the desperation of Aria's voice, she tackled the girl and closed her eyes. A shot of lightning came from the sky, directly at them. Sparks of golden flickered and bounced around them. They were expecting for both girls to be injured, but once the smoke cleared, they were surprise to see a thick barrier of illuminating glass covering them.

Tessa was breathing heavily as she kept her hand up with the other one on the girl's shoulder. If she had taken a second longer, the girl would've been seriously injured. The lightning had been extremely powerful that it took more effort than necessary to make the blast bounce off. Aria went up to them, giving a hand each to pull them up, inwardly glad that they were both ok.

Tessa turned to the other girl, "I'm sorry I tackled you like that uh—"

"Bisca" the girl replied with a light shake in her voice.

Lucy's chocolate brow eyes were wide, "T-That was amazing!"

Cana nodded by her side, "I have never seen someone stopping lightning before."

Happy flew up to her face, "What kind of wizard are you?"

Tessa could feel a blush spreading furiously across her cheeks.

"So," a rough voice said, "You're a Glass Dragon Slayer."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Reveal

Immense silence fell above the group as they stared at the green-eyed woman standing in front of them. She gave them a sheepish smile as she saw all of their eyes on her. She glanced over at Aria who had not said anything, but rather, she held a look of being satisfied at what she had done. No one had yet to say anything after what Gajeel had said. She could feel her face growing hot as she patiently waited for more reactions but she got none. Just wide eyes staring at her.

The women weren't too sure what to even make of the news. Cana was starting to grin widely as she stared at Tessa up and down.. She seemed just like a normal beautiful young woman, but within that body held the strength of a dragon slayer? It was rather fascinating. Bisca still held fear within her body knowing that she would've been gravely injured thanks to the lightning. Lucy could only stare in open surprise. She wasn't expecting the girl to be a dragon slayer of all things. For some reason she kept thinking her magic could possibly be anything about plants due to the bright green eyes the girl had. Her gaze slowly turned to look at Aria, now wondering what kind of mage she was.

Tessa knew that female dragon slayers were rare indeed. She was nervously biting at her lip since everyone was waiting for her to speak.

She nodded, "Yes, I am."

Cana let out a loud holler sound as she wrapped an arm around the girl. Tessa gasped at the sudden motion but grinned as well.

"Seems that the tables will be turning around in our favor!"

Natsu was in front of her in an instant, his bright eyes shining with anticipation and so much excitement, "When this is over, I want to fight you!"

Behind him, she could see some of the women rolling their eyes at his enthusiasm but simply smiled at her.

Aria shook her head at everyone's reactions, finding them rather comical. She looked up at the sky again and her eyes slightly glared at all the remaining lacrimas up in the sky. She stepped forward, rather feeling a bit guilty interrupting everyone's enthusiasm, "There's still the issue of the lacrimas. Although she's strong, that many lacrimas crashing against her glass barrier would destroy it instantly, giving her serious damage."

Her sudden comment made their heads turn to her, some slightly forgetting that she was there since she was so quiet. Natsu suspiciously went up to her, getting right into her personal bubble and taking a sniff at her neck. Aria's eyes widened and took two steps back as she glared at him.

"What are you doing?" Her heart was thumping loudly that she could hear it in her ears.

He tilted his head, "What kind of mage are you? I can't figure it out."

She felt her heart stop for a second but quickly recovered, "T-that's not important right now. We need to fix this before this whole town becomes fried."

Cana nodded, "She's right. We need to take out Laxus."

"There's still the rest of the Thunder Legion too," Bisca worriedly said. Aria let out a breath of relief since the salamander became interested on the issue at hand than what kind of mage she was.

Lucy was biting her nail as she looked over to the town that she had grown to call home, "The citizens. We need to evacuate them."

Happy flew around above them, his small hands waving frantically, "But Natsu and Gajeel can't leave the guild!"

Gajeel's red eyes turned to the dragon slayer in front of him. He had heard perfectly of the other girl telling her to break the barrier. His iron couldn't even do so. But he guessed he was going to find out as Tessa grinned at her friend and made her way towards the stairs.

They all went back downstairs to find out that Mira had taken the Master back to his room. He was resting, but he was growing weaker. The stress of the situation was taking a toll on him. Memories of a young Laxus kept flashing rapidly in his mind, of the boy he used to be. Now seeing the damage, on how he turned to be a cold and arrogant man, Makarov felt that he had failed his grandson. Not even himself. As he laid on the bed, sorrow kept filling his heart and his thoughts kept shifting on what he could've done differently for the boy. He wasn't saying much after a certain witch from the forest regained his consciousness. He had asked to be alone and Mira and Levy stepped out of the room.

They gave the others an update on how he was doing and the responses were completely natural. It was creating more of a fury within the guild members, giving them more of a reason to stop what was going on. Both Levy and Mira had looks of relief finding out that one of the two girls was a dragon slayer. The hopes of returning the guild back to normal were growing, but they knew the battle was far from over.

Tessa couldn't explain it, but seeing them how close they all were, although it was obvious some were weary of Gajeel for some reason, she felt that she needed to help them. She knew Aria would, to a certain extent. She had seen her power, what she could do, but she knew the reasons why Aria refused to use it on jobs or with other people. Only reason why Tessa even knew anything, it was so that Aria needed to maintain her powers under control. Her magic was wild. She didn't know how else to explain it. She hated to admit it, but fighting Aria could be deadly. She always had a hard time keeping up with her in pure combat, but adding her magic could end badly. Tessa knew it was because of the lack of control when using them, even if Aria did her best, but there was only so much she could do to help.

Would this be the time her friend of many years would finally let go?

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Aria taking a stand with the guild members. She asked all of them for their names and then started pointing at each of them.

 _It_ _seems that after all I don't have to ask her to do anything,_ she thought with a small smile on her face.

"We need to break into teams," she started as she cleared her throat, her golden gaze watching every single one of them, "Cana, you and Juvia find one of the Thunder Legion. Lucy, Mira, and myself will evacuate the citizens. Bisca, stay here with Levy to guard the Master. Tessa, find Erza and tell her about the lacrimas. Natsu and Gajeel will search for this Laxus."

Cana shook her head, "There's still one more Thunder Legion we would have to find."

"Whoever finds him, take him out."

She wasn't sure what even possessed her to even start coming up with a plan and telling people, that she was not even part of their family, orders on what to do. She could feel that Tessa had her eyes at her and she mentally rolled her eyes.

 _I can be nice sometimes_ , she grumpily thought to herself.

Happy walked up to Aria, raising his blue paw, "I can help with the citizens!"

Natsu pointed a finger at the entrance, "How am I supposed to fight him if I can't get out?!"

Gajeel crossed his arms, a slight shimmer of confusion in his eyes as he looked at the female slayer, "I heard her telling you to break it."

Tessa blinked at first at the sudden comment, but that quickly vanished. She smirked at him and walked forward. She closed her eyes and concentrated, bringing her energy forth as she extended her arms in front of her. Various colors of light surged out of her body, gracefully floating in her palms. Air started blowing, making the slight curls at the tip of her hair float and move with the wind. The spectacles of light started creating a solid, transparent form until on its place, a long silver like spear appeared made of glistening glass.

The carvings in the glass reflected the sun's light that was coming in from the windows, making slight rainbows appear in the guild hall due to the reflection. Almost everyone gasped at the beauty of the rainbows floating everywhere. They were used to destructive dragon slayer magic due to Natsu and Gajeel, but this was a total different thing.

She opened her eyes, which were glowing as she focused her energy into the spear. There had only been a handful of times where this had worked against barriers. She wasn't fully sure it would work, but if she could at least crack it, the others can destroy it with their magic.

She got the spear ready on her right arm when she jumped in the air. In mid air, she twirled the spear over her head and shouted.

"Glass Dragon Spear Rain!"

As she moved the spear forward, various particles of colorful glass shot forward like tiny daggers towards the barrier. The moment the tip of her spear made contact with the barrier, she let it go and jumped backwards. Her heart was beating fast as she waited until she heard the distinguish sound of cracking.

The others gasped as they saw various cracks appearing all over Freed's barrier due to the small daggers of glass that had embedded into it. But their happiness was slowly fading away as they saw that it hadn't broken.

Gajeel wasn't sure what compelled him to do so, but he shot forward and with bringing his iron fist, he punch the spear and made it dig in more into the barrier, cracking it further.

He looked over his shoulder to the gawking pyro, "What are you waiting for?!"

That snapped Natsu out of it and ran forward as well, doing the exact same thing that Gajeel. His fist, covered in flames, slammed into the spear and finally shattering the barrier.

Aria smirked as she saw the barrier shattering before them. She turned to look at the others who were openly gawking at Tessa's display of power.

Levy had known Freed for so long that no one had ever even given a barrier a scratch.

Natsu started laughing uncontrollably as he wrapped an arm around Gajeel and the other one around Tessa, not paying attention how close together he brought their faces when he hugged them tightly.

"I'm all fired up now!"

Both dragon slayers were blushing furiously until Gajeel finally was able to get the arm removed from his shoulder and punched Natsu, making him fly and crash into one of the tables.

"Get your shit together flame brain! We need to go, now!"

Mira walked up to Tessa, "Are you sure you don't want to go with them two to stop Laxus?"

Her eyes widened at that and laughed as she scratched the back of her head.

"What's his fighting style besides lighting?" Aria interrupted.

"Hand to hand," Cana quickly responded, "He's in front of you, you better wish he doesn't punch you."

Aria sighed, "Tessa may be a dragon slayer, but hand to hand has always been one of her struggles."

Tessa nodded, "I can do defensive magic and weapons. Attacks from afar too. Close hand to hand I'm always at a disadvantage."

Bisca stepped forward, "Let's just continue with the original plan. Me and Levy will take care of the Master. You guys go, we don't have much time."

Tessa was glad she had met Erza, since her scent was now in her mind, it made it easier for her to track the powerful mage.

As she ran through the streets of Magnolia, with the wind blowing through her long locks, she couldn't help but have an unsettling feeling in her stomach. Her and Aria had gone through a lot during the seven years they had known each other. Specially in their late teenage years. They had their fare shares of battles under their belts, but sooner or later she knew Aria couldn't hold her magic forever. She never used her full potential against her, so even she had no clue how much strength her friend even held.

But she knew exactly why Aria held back. Because she was afraid.

And deep in her heart she knew today would be the day that she would let go.

"So, Aria," Lucy panted as they ran, "What kind of wizard are you?"

Lucy couldn't stop thinking about it after Natsu had brought it up. The girl had a lot of confidence within her.

Aria grunted. She had seen that coming from a mile away.

"I haven't used my magic in years."

Lucy slightly tripped at the confession of the other woman, "You can't be serious!"

 _That's not the answer I was expecting_ , the young woman timidly thought to herself.

Mira had a knowing look in her gaze as she continued running. She could relate after all. After her sister's death, she had stopped going on missions and decided to make a permanent job at the guild in the bar area. She also hadn't used her own powers in a long time and completely understood where the girl was coming from.

Lucy didn't even know what to even say to that. Aria had been short with her answer that led to no more questions regarding that.

Mira's eyes widened when she came across the body of her beaten brother down on the floor. She ran to him, calling his name over and over until he finally came to.

"M-Mira," Elfman said shakily, "Y-you're ok."

Her eyes were shining in tears, "All of us are ok thanks to Erza and new friends."

Lucy didn't want to separate the siblings, knowing well how much they had been worried for each other, "Mira, me and Aria can continue going."

Mira nodded at them, "Please be careful you two."

Lucy refrained from intruding into Aria's magic and just continued to run, with Happy flying next to them.

However, she was known to be a very curious person and just when she was going to ask her how she met Tessa, Aria had grabbed her arm and pulled her against a wall behind her.

Various shots of green energy landed right where Lucy had been.

Her heart was pounding as the attack had been so sudden. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the back of the head of the slightly taller woman.

How did she hear it? Lucy couldn't help but wonder.

"Who the hell is with you Cheerleader?"

Erza was beyond surprised when Tessa told her what kind of magic she had when Tessa found her. After that was out of the way, she explained to Erza about what the lacrimas could do and the Master's condition.

Erza punched the wall, pure anger and disappointment flowing through her punch, "Goddamit Laxus."

"Why is he doing this in the first place?"

Erza wondered whether to tell anything to the dragon slayer in front of her, but after what she had done, she owed her that much.

"His biggest resentment to the Master is because he banished his father out of the guild years ago. Although I don't understand why Laxus would be so angry. His father did a lot to him."

Her eyes widened at the last part and instantly cursed herself. The question slipped out of Tessa's lips before she could even think about it, "What did he do?"

A heavy silence fell between them as Erza was battling her inner self with the answer. She let out a sigh, "What I'm about to tell you cannot be shared with anyone. I only know because I found out by accident," she took a deep breath, "Laxus was a very sick child. His father… he put a lacrima from a lightning dragon in his right eye."

At the mention of the implantation of a dragon lacrima, Tessa suddenly felt extremely heavy. She placed her hands on her knees and looked down to the floor. She had seen first hand what resentment could do to a person. That anger that engulfs a wielder of a dragon lacrima could do serious damage. This wizard already was an S-Class mage from what she had heard and extremely powerful. What he could do with his power sent a chill down her spine.

But fighting fire versus fire was the best option in some occasions.

"We need Aria," she all but whispered to Erza as she finally looked up.

Erza's eyes were wide in confusion. When she had looked at Tessa's companion, she could barely find any signs of magic within the other intimidating woman. She knew from just the posture she had a strong spirit, but she hardly felt any signs of magic. Just barely.

"Why would we—"

A loud explosion coming north from where they stood interrupted them. They could see the debris flying out and an area filled with smoke.

"That's the Cathedral!"

Aria had never been more annoyed in her life until now.

Not even when Tessa would drag her into shopping sprees whenever they had extra money. Or when she would steal her food. Or when she was ridiculed during jobs just to get some money.

The flying dolls that Bickslow had called babies were insanely annoying. They had knocked her down a few times and she felt herself growling softly as she glared at them.

She had enough of him and his stupid dolls. She took advantage of a Celestial Spirit appearing out of nowhere while it had grabbed Lucy out of the way when the babies were ready to attack her. Aria ran at full speed and then jumped upwards to reach the laughing mage.

Through his eye shield, she saw his emerald glowing eyes widening as she readied a punch and hit him straight on his stomach, knocking the air out of him. They both crashed onto the roof that was behind him.

When Bickslow finally got up, he barely had time to raise his hands in defense as a kick was thrown at him. However he was not quick enough to stop a blow to his ribs.

Who the hell is this girl? He all but thought as he continued to block as many of the blows as possible. She was fast and her golden gaze had such a glow of pure ferocity as she continued unleashing blow after blow.

Down below, Loke's eyes were wide as he saw the unknown girl making Bickslow just block his body. Her tactics were brutal force but they held so much grace at the same time. His train of thoughts were interrupted as the babies went back to attack them.

"Lucy, go help her, I'll take care of these nuisances."

Lucy sweatdropped, "I don't think she needs help…"

Loke shook his head, "Nonsense. You have your own strength as well."

She smiled at him, "Thank you! Let's go Happy!"

Aria could hear the the blue cat teasing the celestial mage endlessly, which at a point distracted her and Bickslow finally was able to land a solid hit on her. Before he could continue, a whip wrapped around his arm stopping him in his tracks.

Lucy held the handle of her whip tightly with one hand as she gave Aria her other to get her up. Aria smirked at the girl and then glared at him.

"That's the last hit you're going to get."

Lucy wasn't as fast as her, but the blonde was witty and it was like she knew what Aria needed from her. It didn't take them long to finally knock down Bickslow unconscious.

Lucy was breathing heavily since she had never done so much fighting without relying on her spirits before. It was a rush and she never once felt like a nuisance to Aria. As Lucy looked at her, she hoped that her and Tessa would permanently join their guild.

Aria was laughing since Happy was re telling what he had told Lucy regarding a certain spirit she had a contract with when something in the back of her head made her stop. She looked towards another direction until she finally found slight smoke.

"Lucy, what's over there?"

"That's the town's Cathedral."

Loke re appeared next to the girls, "I'm sensing powerful magic from that direction. I wouldn't doubt it that Laxus is there."

 _Aria_ …!

Aria's eyes widened, and took off into the direction of the Cathedral.

"Lucy, find your guildmates and destroy the lacrimas!"

Tessa could feel her muscles and nerves convulsing within her body. She had been electrocuted before, but this was something else. Her vision was going in and out as she moaned quietly in pain.

She had tried blocking the blow she saw coming towards her and Erza, but Laxus had been faster. Natsu and Gajeel had gotten there together, something that had surprised Erza, but even with the two dragon slayers it wasn't enough. Tessa hoped that Aria had heard her, since their link only worked at a certain distance.

They were landing a few hits on Laxus, but he was still wiping the floor with them. They were starting to get covered with bruises and cuts, and Laxus was hardly getting any damage. Erza could see he was toying with them as his lightning danced around them.

She had enough of it.

She was ready to jump into the battle as well so she could send the others to destroy the lacrimas, when a blur of silver flew past her and slammed right into Laxus, sending him flying and crashing into a pillar made out of marble.

Silence fell inside the Cathedral like a heavy blanket as they heard the rumbling of the marble as Laxus slowly got up. His gray eyes narrowed in anger as she saw that it had been a woman to have sent him crashing into the pillar that way.

He saw the looks that the other mage that he had attacked shared with the new girl that stood in the center of the Cathedral.

 _So they know each other_

Aria didn't remove her gaze as she spoke up, "Tessa, Erza, go and destroy the lacrimas. You two, join them."

Laxus studied her, but he was getting the same reading as anyone else that had met Aria. Her magical energy was barely there. But, she had been successful to land a strong hit on him. Not even Natsu or Gajeel had been able to.

"You're not even part of this guild," Laxus spoke up with a cold low voice, "So I don't know why you're meddling into something that isn't your business."

Aria's lip curled into a silent snarl but she did not say anything.

Laxus scoffed at her and then used his lightning to reappear in front of her, but by the slight second he was about to throw his fist covered in lightning, she had ducked and kicked him on his back as she rolled out of the way.

He growled loudly in frustration and continued to throw punches and kicks, but she was slightly faster and using her smaller body to her advantage. Her motions were graceful as she didn't miss a beat. He had barely touched her arm on one of his blows. He felt he was being ridiculed. He already had enough of his grandpa's lectures, the rumors he heard about FairyTail, and here stood some woman that came out of nowhere and was mocking his strength. All he could see was red and decided to unleash his full potential, not caring that others would see.

Scales started to appear in his body as his muscles grew in size. His purple button was shredded as he focus all of his energy. He took a deep breath and roared.

"Lightning Dragon Roar!"

Natsu's and Gajeel's eyes widened as they realized that Laxus had been a dragon slayer the whole time.

But what was making almost everyone's blood turn cold was the fact that Aria did not move out of the way. Gajeel turned to see Aria's partner, Tessa, to see her standing with her legs shaking with a smile on her face.

The whole hall was covered with light from the powerful lightning hit. Erza's eyes widened in horror as she could feel the power of the roar. She narrowed her eyes and as she took a step forward, Tessa's hand on her shoulder snapped her out of it.

"Let's go and get rid of these lacrimas."

"But s-she!"

"She's okay. Look," Tessa pointed a finger where Aria had been, and as the smoke slowly cleared, they could see the familiar combat boots.

Aria was still on the same spot, both arms with clenched fists at either side of her. She had a couple of scratches from the lightning, but she was still standing.

Once the smoke was fully gone, they could see a slight aqua blue aura coming out of her body but what shocked them the most was the blue scales that appeared on one side of her face, down to her neck.

"She's a Thunder Dragon Slayer."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Battle of the Slayers

" _Aunt Marcea, where are we going?" a young child asked as she looked at how tightly her aunt was grabbing her wrist and dragging her into the forest._

" _We are going to play a little game."_

 _Aria's blue eyes shone with excitement. Ever since she could remember, no one in her family played with her. She always had to make her own games. But when she turned seven, that disappeared as well. She was constantly beaten during training, something about her not having any magic within her and being worthless._

 _But she still loved her aunt and uncle. She had been so happy when her niece was born, but she was prohibited from playing with her when the baby started getting older._

 _She tripped over a rock, but Marcea hadn't let go as she fell. The awkwardness of the angle and force she fell since she was being rushed dislocated her shoulder and she loudly cried out in pain._

 _But Marcea kept pulling her until she got up again._

 _Tears were running down her tan cheeks in pain, but she didn't make a sound. She had learned that it was pointless to do so with them._

 _When they had finally got there, she could hazily see the entrance of a dark cave._

* * *

 _And then all I remember is blood and a hot burning pain in my chest,_ she thought bitterly as she saw them leaving the Cathedral. She removed what was left of her shirt, her cross like scar now fully visible to the other man standing a few yards away from her.

The moment she had felt the link and the desperation of Tessa, her heart had dropped to her stomach. Only a few times had she run as fast as she did in that moment. The all too familiar feel and scent of electricity made her blood pump and her eyes had widened when she saw Tessa on the floor, slight smoke coming from her body just like Erza from being electrocuted. She didn't even wait to see the damage that Natsu and Gajeel had. She saw red and slammed her body against the culprit.

Shock was an understatement that he still had in his mind. There was anger, fury, rage. Even a small ping of embarrassment. However, mixed with all those negative emotions, he couldn't believe that she was like him. He knew what that scar meant. If it wasn't for the scar, the blue scales grazing her light tanned skin was a dead give away.

Her blue aura grew in size and so did his. For a while, they were just staring at each other. Golden clashing with gray.

Suddenly, they both snarled loudly and clashed against each other.

If it wasn't for what he had witnessed back there, Gajeel would think there was a storm coming with the sound of thunder and lightning echoing all over Magnolia. He still couldn't believe Aria had come out of nowhere and had slammed right into Laxus.

But what he still couldn't fathom, was her being a dragon slayer as well. The moment her aura had appeared, he could _smell_ the dragon within her from the lacrima. He could feel her power and he hated to admit it, but he was impressed. It was already bad enough that Tessa was clearly a powerful mage, but now two of them? He really wondered why they never joined a guild.

Erza decided to split them in two groups, and now he was running alongside the other female dragon slayer, Tessa.

"Are ya sure you're up for this?" He asked as he remembered how the blast had hit her and Erza. Laxus' lightning was a bitch, very difficult to recover from so easily if one had never been hit by it.

She smirked at him, her green eyes wide and wild as they held excitement, "Not going to let you have all the fun."

They ran through the streets until they finally found one of the few tall buildings in the town. They went up the ladder and once on the roof, their eyes widened at the amount of lightning lacrimas in the sky.

"That bastard just had to throw a temper tantrum…" Gajeel grumbled.

Tessa let out a sigh, "This is going to hurt like a bitch."

Gajeel grinned as his whole body was covered by scales of iron as he looked up at the sky. Just before he jumped, Erza's voice echoed in his head.

 _Can anyone hear me?_

 _Erza?,_ Lucy said surprised.

 _What's going on?_ Mirajane.

And so on and so forth various voices echoed in his head. He groaned loudly as he got a hold of his head.

"Why am I hearing all of you morons?!"

Tessa flinched at his sudden outburst, her eyes staring at him like if he was crazy.

"What's going on?" She asked him confused. He raised his pierced eyebrow at her, "You can't hear them?"

She shook her head in response. He furrowed his eyebrows until he reached the conclusion that she didn't have the guild mark. He retracted his iron scales and roughly grabbed her hand and placed it over his upper arm where his black guild mark laid.

Tessa tried fighting the blush that wanted to spread through her cheeks, but thankfully was distracted as she heard various voices in her head.

 _Listen up everyone!_ Erza's commanding voice said, making everyone quiet down, _Today that was supposed to be a day of fun and laughter has been covered by a storm. I know all of you are tired and injured, but we need to destroy the lacrimas!_

 _What about Laxus?_ Mirajane asked worriedly.

 _Two traveling mages reached our guild today in hopes to see our glorious festival. Both of them are Dragon Slayers and one of them is currently fighting Laxus._

The sudden amount of shouts and exclamations gave Tessa a massive headache, making her dizzy. There was too many of them. She didn't feel she was swaying back and forth until Gajeel grabbed her arm and held her in place.

 _Although they may not be Fairy Tail members, they jumped right in to help us! One of them cracked Freed's barrier!_ Lucy's voice cut in, hoping to reach the rest of her guildmates.

 _And one of them is in a ferocious battle for us! Let's show them that we can work together and get rid of these lacrimas! LET'S DEFEND OUR TOWN, OUR GUILD!_

Various roars of agreement shouted in excitement. Tessa's chest was feeling warm at the amount of support and love everyone was showing through the link. This was what a guild was about. This is what herself and Aria needed.

She decided to speak to them _I can extend a barrier after all of us attack at the same time. I won't be able to hold it for long, but it should diminish the amount of time of impact we would all suffer._

 _Who's that?_

 _Is that the dragon slayer?_

 _That's a real MAN!_

 _Alright, I'm all fired up guys! LET'S DO THIS!_

 _On the count of three_

 _One!_

 _Two!_

 _Three..._

* * *

She gasped as he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her on the marble floor, creating a slight crater under her. She could feel blood dripping from her mouth as he choked her. She inwardly groaned as she felt the pieces of the rubble digging in her back, making small cuts and she could smell blood coming out of them. He was covering her with his whole body where she decided to take a chance and kneed him between the legs. She felt his grip slipping from her throat that she hit him on the head with hers and then slipped away.

She closed her fist, blue aura covering it completely and she punched him as sparks of her own thunder hit him right on the face. He slid on the floor but quickly got up and dashed forward again.

The more they fought, the more she noticed that he had not spoken about his plans of taking over the guild. He actually hadn't said a word to her since they started fighting.

More than half of the Cathedral was already destroyed. They kept exchanging blows of thunder and lightning, smashing their bodies onto the ground or pillars or throwing one another into the ground.

It wasn't until they heard lightning crashing suddenly and eventually faded that she smirked.

"Guess Magnolia is still intact."

He let out such a ferocious lightning roar that caught her completely off guard. Before she hit the ground, he had grabbed her arm, flinging her body upwards and once her body reached a forty five degree angle, he punched her with such force that made the structure tremble. The impact was extremely strong, that she made a hole in the roof as she was sent flying.

As she was in the sky, she barely dodged his lightning form as he had tried hitting her again in mid air. She brought out her energy and covered herself in her own thunder form and she clashed against him.

Every time they would clash, it sounded like a real storm was hovering over the entire town.

Those that were still conscious after being electrocuted when the lacrimas were down, cheered as they saw the battle in the sky.

Tessa smiled in pain as she saw the familiar blue thunder in the sky. It had been so long since she had seen that.

"You ok girl?" Gajeel's gruff voice said, catching her attention. He winced as he started to get up slowly, his muscles twitching every now and then.

She nodded her head as she continued to look up to the sky, "Just very tired."

He didn't say anything. He crossed his arms and look towards where he could see the guild. It was at least 3 miles to get back. He looked down at her and then back to the guild.

"Get on my back, we are going back to the guild."

She tried sitting up quickly, however her whole body protested making her groan out loud. She put a hand over her arm and looked up again, seeing yellow and blue crashing up in the sky.

"I can't leave her…"

"They're thunder and lightning, it's going to take a while."

She couldn't protest more than that. She was beyond exhausted. The barrier had hold up a lot more than she thought, but that meant that she was getting the blasts since the barrier was connected to her. The lightning itself when it landed on them lasted only two seconds instead of ten. But those two seconds felt like a lifetime to those that were already badly injured.

She didn't remember when she got on his back or when she fell asleep as he carried her away.

The guild was filled with happy reunions and apologies at the same time. All of the men were hugging each other and fretting over on how worried they had been about the girls. There was not one person without at least a few bandages somewhere in their body. The only ones from the females that had been badly injured had been Juvia, Cana, and Erza.

Erza had used all of her weapons and destroyed one hundred lacrimas. By the time the lightning finally hit her, those two seconds had been overwhelming. Juvia had risked her own life for Cana to continue forward in the twisted game that she destroyed a lacrima herself, and her body being of water, the impact had been so much worse. Cana had a hard time against Freed that ended up leaving her unconscious and not waking up until she had heard the others in her mind. But neither of them three wanted to rest anymore. Mira was running everywhere with either drinks or more bandages. She was in much better spirits knowing that the Master was feeling a lot better thanks to Porlyusica.

Tessa tried really hard for her worry to not show as various of the members asked her multiple questions about herself and about Aria, who had yet to show up. The moment Gajeel had brought her to the guild, Makarov had called for her into his office. They spoke for a long time and now she just prayed that her friend would just show up already.

Night time reached, and not a sign of either of the slayers.

Makarov was a fool if he denied not being worried for his grandson. Hell, he had raised the boy after he exiled his father! Oh- he was angry, very angry. His son had not just threatened the member's lives but the townsfolk as well.

He was supposed to exile his son. What was holding him back from that though?

After his conversation with Tessa, it made him think about his decision. The young woman told him everything about herself and everything about Aria. Tessa knew there was no point of hiding her past or Aria's. Makarov's heart broke at the mention that the thunder slayer had faced a very similar past to the one of Laxus. It would explain why the young woman was so keen of keeping quiet. Tessa wasn't going to say anything on why Aria hadn't used her magic in years, but that accidentally slipped. He had waited for her to tell the tale at her own pace and his heart broke when she was finally done explaining.

As he looked at all the somber looks from all his children from the second floor, as much as he wanted to make the Fantasia parade, he knew it was impossible to do so.

He could hear Lucy and Tessa desperately wanting to go outside and search for Aria. The beaten Thunder Legion, after apologizing profusely to the whole guild and having a long talk with him, wanted to join them to search for their leader. He made an announcement that the Fantasia parade would be postponed until the following day. There were various disappointment sounds but no one argued with him. After that, he went back into his office.

"I should've been the one to have fought Laxus! I would've been back by now!" Natsu bitterly grumbled as Mira tied a bandage around his arms were various burns from the lightning from the lacrimas and the small fight with Laxus laid.

Gajeel shook his head. Damn the kid was stubborn.

"You barely did any damage to him, what makes you think you would've won?"

Something in the air snapped as Natsu slowly turned around, a deadly glare pointed at him.

"What did you say scrap metal?! I was barely getting started! I would've wiped the floor with him, you just had to get in the way!"

They continued bickering back and forth, catching the whole attention of the guild.

Gray rolled his eyes and smacked Natsu on the back of the head when he heard another comment of Aria taking too long, "You don't get it do you flame breath?"

Natsu was about to retaliate until he saw the look on Mira's face as she continued to bandage him, slightly tighter than before.

"What?" he asked in a bored tone.

Tessa had been sitting across Natsu when the whole argument broke out. Gray gave her a smile as he sat next to her and then turning back to the moronic slayer.

"He's lightning and she's thunder. Their magic is almost practically the same. Just on how you get your energy back by eating fire, like I do with iron or anything metal, those two have been feeding off of each other basically." Gajeel said loudly from his spot on one of the chairs holding an ice pack to his head.

Erza nodded her head in agreement, "They have created a chain between them. The only way it'll stop is if one of them is out."

Tessa groaned as he put her head between her knees. She was trying not to cry.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have dragged her here. We would still be fine. Travelling just the two of us and she wouldn't be fighting right now!_ She sadly thought.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Lucy handing her an ice pack, "Thought that this might help you."

Tessa could barely form a smile, "Thanks…"

* * *

He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to last. In all of the years that he was a mage, not once has he ever been on a fight that was lasting this long. His jobs were difficult, but in a matter of hours he got the job done either solo or with his team. There was a reason why he had made it into S- Class at the early age of sixteen.

He was ruthless just like his lightning but extremely tactical as well. He focused on getting stronger, because that's what he had been put in his head since an early age. He wanted to be the very best. But here he was, sweating profusely as he blocked thunder covered fists and legs. He couldn't even remember when they had made it into the mountains around Magnolia in the first place.

He was, in a way, trying to figure out how her body had taken well the lacrima in her body. What he had learned in all of his years, not once was a lacrima placed within the body of a female, let alone a dragon one. At least that was to his knowledge.

The pity he had felt when he first started fighting her was surging forward again, making him falter slightly in his steps. He growled loudly and decided to finally speak.

"Aren't you tired yet _girl?_ I'm surprised a weakling like you is still standing."

A thundered covered knee made its way to his privates once again but this time he was ready and blocked it with his hand.

Her golden eyes flashed, "If I was such a weakling, why haven't you beaten me yet?"

His lip lifted in a snarl but then he arrogantly smirked, "It's not every day a woman lasts such a long time with me."

Her face turned into disgust as she caught his innuendo, "You're such a bastard. Why did you even attack your own guild in the first place?"

He threw a roundhouse kick at her but she quickly ducked out of the way and threw a punch at him in return.

"You're not even be part of this fucking guild, why do you even care?"

Her hands glowed blue as she sent a thunder attack at him, sending him crashing into a tree.

He growled loudly as he sent a lightning roar from his spot as he got up. She grunted in pain as she landed on her back.

"This guild has become the laughing stock of Fiore!" He snarled angrily as he jumped at her, "They are weak! Bunch of them shouldn't be wearing the mark!"

She landed a punch on his face, "So because people talk, you're going to listen to them? You didn't seem the type to care what anyone thought!"

Hot anger spread through him, "I don't!"

His snarl didn't phase her. She had hit a nerve. The hours they had spent fighting neither of them had said anything, but she was glad now they were getting somewhere.

"Were you put under a sleeping spell when tha lacrima was put in you?"

He faltered for a second on his stance before regaining control, "Why do you care?"

"Seems like you were. Lucky."

His growling intensified as he grabbed her by the arm and tossed her to the ground, "I was seven years old, just a goddam kid, and you call me lucky?"

She started laughing then. A loud genuine laugh was spouting out of her lips, making her shake and hold her bruised ribs. Laxus stopped completely as his eyes stared at the woman laughing.

She almost had tears falling down because of how hard she was laughing. Her aura disappeared and she collapsed down on the floor. She brought up her knees to her chest, completely ignoring the various bleeding cuts from her ripped pants, and looked up at the dark sky filled with stars.

She hadn't even noticed nightfall had fallen. She had to admit, the sky looked a lot better up in the mountains than back on the road.

Laxus couldn't even figure out what to do or how to feel. Part of him believed she had completely lost it during the fight. What kind of person goes from fighting to hysterically laughing?

A crazy one.

She didn't look at him as she spoke, "Your grandfather collapsed when you activated your thunder palace. He wasn't really stable when I left."

His eyes widened at what she said. Overwhelming guilt went through him like a whirlpool.

 _Old man…_

Could he really continue through with what he wanted?

No. He couldn't.

Knowing that his grandfather could possibly be on his deathbed killed any wishes of taking over the guild by force. The rage he had felt throughout the whole day started diminishing, like a dying fire, and he started feeling like the biggest piece of shit ever. Because regardless of everything, the old man had raised him. Various flashes started rushing through his head of him being just a kid and his grandfather always watching over him. Specially during the Fantasia Parade.

He could feel his throat drying and tightening. He felt cold as he leaned against a tree as the true horror of what he could've caused settled in his being.

The bruises and open wounds he had in his body were nothing compared to what he was feeling in his heart and his soul. Because of his own selfish decisions, he jeopardized his own teammates, the town, the guild, and his own grandfather's life.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Decisions

The guild had several of the injured that were too tired to go back home the day before to spend the night. Pillows and blankets were scattered everywhere. Various snores were creating their own symphony, making it hard for others to sleep comfortably, specially with Natsu being the loudest.

A loud noise coming from the outside of the guild's doors woke up immediately those that were light sleepers. Tessa's heart skipped a beat when she could feel her aura coming closer to the door.

The doors of the guild were then opened, with two pairs of legs walking in slowly. A few whispers and gasps were heard, suddenly followed by shouting. That brought the attention to those that were still asleep.

A bloodied Laxus was coming in with Aria's arm over his shoulder as he supported her weight with his strong arm wrapped around her waist, her in a similar state as well. She was pale and her vision was dropping, barely making the figures in her vision.

The shouting increased, followed by a few curse words towards him. He inwardly winced, but his expression was void of emotions. Aria flinched at the sound, and her eyes went wide as she saw a magic attack going directly at Laxus. She was too weak to move out of the way and she prepared herself for the impact.

But before it could hit them, a glass like shield appeared immediately in front of them, protecting them from the attack.

Erza turned and gave a deadly glare at Droy since he had been the one to attack Laxus. The man quickly cowered at her glare and put his head down in shame, however when he finally looked up, he glared at Laxus. Natsu's eyes shone brightly and a mischievous grin appeared on his face, but before he could jump up and challenge Laxus for a fight, the young dragon slayer was pulled back by Gray.

Tessa didn't say anything as she removed the barrier and walked up to them. She got on Aria's other side and helped Laxus with her.

Mira stepped forward, "Let's get you guys bandaged up in the infirmary."

The Thunder Legion stared desperately at their leader, but Laxus paid them no mind. He didn't have enough courage to even look at them in that moment. From the corner of his eye, he saw Aria barely keeping her eyes open.

* * *

 _"Now you're having a change of heart?" Her tone was slightly mocking him as she finally turned her head to look at him. She slowly got up but her gaze never left him. She could see it all over his face. The guilt. The anger to himself._

 _He stayed quiet and she got annoyed, but as she was about to say something, she froze. Her golden eyes widened as she felt her magic rising at a drastic change. She collapsed on her knees and started to let out shallow breaths. She started to sweat profusely as pure hot pain started surging from her scar._

 _"Son of a bitch-!"_

 _She clenched her hands in tight fists as her whole body shook. Her eyes were tightly shut as she bit down her lip, pure raw panic and pain was spreading through her and she was trying to prevent herself from screaming._

 _"No no no no not again." she whispered to herself._

 _Laxus removed himself off the tree and slowly started approaching her. He could hear her heartbeat thumping rapidly. She had been just fine, somewhat, a few minutes ago. What was going on?_

 _As he got closer, her magic skyrocketed even more, a blast of magic coming from within her body and sending him spiraling into a tree. He groaned in pain as he felt a deep gash on his left arm. His grays us could see that her whole body was lit by her blue aura and spectacles of light were coming out of her. The wind started blowing viciously, creating a whirlpool. It continued to grow more and more, to the point that its power was becoming extremely dangerous._

 _He acted in pure instinct. He rushed forward, ignoring the intense bleeding of his arm, and brought out his own electric aura and started using it to push down her own. He grabbed both of her arms and pulled her up, slamming her right into his chest._

 _"What are you doing?! Get away from me!" she said, her voice covered by pure fear. The last time she had lost control like this, people got killed._

 _Her aunt had gotten killed._

 _He closed his eyes as he directed his lightning to cover her thunder, creating his own dome over her and pushing it downwards on them. The electric sparks were making the ground shake and various pieces of rock fly everywhere, hitting them and scraping them in various places._

 _"You're going to get yourself killed," he growled as he continued using whatever power he had left to maintain hers under control._

 _She let out a painful scream as her own power was pushed inside of her again and she collapsed against his chest._

 _He didn't know what to make of the situation, but one thing was clearly obvious to him. She did not know how to control her power after a certain extent. The lacrima within her seemed to be taking a mind of its own._

* * *

Aria hissed in pain as Tessa and Erza were putting ointment and bandaging her on her arms, her chest, and her legs. They weren't being rough and for that she was grateful. However, due to her losing sudden control, various gashes had appeared. She had seen the blood on Laxus as well and she knew he was at least in a similar state too.

There was a white curtain separating her bed with his and Mira was helping him out. Every now and then she could hear him grunt, and she had a feel that Mira was doing it on purpose.

Hours seemed to go by slowly. Tessa had filled her in once Mira and Erza left the infirmary, telling her how they had destroyed the lacrimas. Aria didn't feel like speaking, so with the link she shared with her, she showed her everything in her mind on what happened.

Tessa held back the anger she felt the moments she saw in her head when Laxus was beating the crap out of Aria and the way he spoke about the guild. However, any ill feelings went out the window when the memory came of him helping Aria and controlling her own magic, or she would've died.

Once the memory was over, Tessa abruptly got up and left the infirmary, without saying a word.

With ease, she found the Master's office and gently knocked on the door. She could barely hear him say that she could come in. The door groaned softly as she opened it and slowly closed it.

The Master was sitting at his desk, still dressed in his pajamas and with bags under his eyes. Tessa could feel how exhausted he was. He was worried, and it was like he was preparing himself mentally for something.

"How are they?" his voice was soft as he got up and started looking out the window.

"They're resting now," she replied back.

Silence filled the room. Tessa had come in with huge determination but now she felt stuck. Her fingers started to play with the hem of the jacket Lucy had gotten for her.

"Is there something you want to tell me child?"

Tessa bit her lip but then walked forward, "Master… I know that me and Aria are not part of your guild-"

"You both are welcome to join Fairy Tail if you wish to do so. I will be more than happy than to have you join us."

Her green eyes widened.

"Then I request that you do not expel Laxus from Fairy Tail."

Makarov finally turned around, a curious look on his aged face at her request. He was already debating from doing so, even though it should technically be the right thing to do.

"He saved Aria. As I told you… her lacrima is somehow different after what happened a few years ago. She could've died out there but he saved her. He used his own magic to control hers again."

 _So… he still has a heart…_ he thought sadly to himself.

The Master didn't say anything, but Tessa continued, "I think he's the only one capable of helping her."

He pondered for a moment, which for Tessa felt like forever, until he finally spoke up.

"If Aria agrees to join Fairy Tail, I will come up with a plan to help her."

* * *

When Tessa had gotten back to the infirmary, she was surprised to see that Aria wasn't there. She looked over the curtain that separated Aria's bed with Laxus' but she only found him asleep. She mentally cursed and she ran out of the infirmary just to slam against a hard chest.

Gajeel had smelt Aria going up the roof and he knew Tessa was making her way over to the infirmary again. He thanked whoever was above for his keen hearing. He, however, didn't expect the young woman crashing into him.

She looked up at him, "I'm sorry. I rushed out cause Aria isn't on her bed."

He moved his head to the side, "She went up the roof."

She gave him a grateful smile and quickly went up the same stairwell they had gone up the day prior when they got there. Sure enough, Aria was standing there, leaning over the balcony.

She could sniff Tessa coming for a while already. Ever since she let her thunder dragon magic out, her senses sky rocketed again. Her sense of smell, her hearing, her eyesight. Everything was sharper than ever and it was giving her a headache. She had forgotten what everything felt like. But a part inside of her felt like if it was back at home.

Tessa didn't say anything as she leaned against the balcony railing, just like her, and looked out at Magnolia. She could hear various shops opening and the murmurs of the people waking up and getting their day started.

"Stupid lacrima" Aria softly said as she leaned her cheek against the palm of her hand.

Tessa didn't say anything for a moment. But when she did, she turned around to face her.

"We need to join them. This is the only place I have felt we belong. That we don't have to run anywhere anymore." _This is the only place it can help you,_ she thought to herself.

"Figured you were going to say that. I'm surprised you haven't gone insane with being with me for seven years," Aria said playfully, a cheeky grin appearing on her face as she looked at her best friend from the corner of her eye.

Tessa smiled at her but her face turned serious. Which hardly ever did.

"Laxus can help you."

The playful glint Aria had in her eyes disappeared in an instant.

"Sparky? I rather drink bleach."

Tessa took a deep breath. It was pointless keeping things from Aria.

"Makarov will expel Laxus unless we join the guild, specially you."

"Do you think lightning bolt will help me after what happened yesterday? Do you realize how badly I hurt his manly ego?"

Something in Tessa's eyes flashed, "I don't care. If they're offering help, to help _you,_ I will drag you myself for them to put the guild mark on you. It's been too long Aria. You can't live like that. You can't hide what you are anymore. You can't run away from your past."

They stayed in silence for minutes. Until Aria finally let out a deep breath.

"Fine! But if I _accidentally_ end up killing him, not my fault."

* * *

After speaking to Makarov and telling him of their decision, he had Mira place the Fairy Tail guild mark on them. Tessa had picked a pretty shade of purple right on the front part of her left shoulder and Aria picked a dark red on her chest, right where her scar was at.

Makarov slightly smiled, glad to see that his guild had gained two very strong mages, however, he knew he day was from over. He had Mira fetch Laxus and the Thunder Legion as well as Gajeel and Team Natsu.

His decision wasn't easy for him, but it was a whole lot easier than banishing his own grandson.

Both groups slowly came in. Those in the Thunder Legion held somber expressions, their gazed looking down and shoulders slumped. All of them were wearing bandages or a couple of bruises in their bodies. Laxus has his signature cloak over his bare shoulders where more bandages were placed across his torso and arms as he had them crossed in front of his chest. He was the only one that had no expression whatsoever as he looked anywhere but his grandfather.

Team Natsu were confused on as to why _they_ had to be there. So was Gajeel. It's not like he was part of their team. He rather do solo jobs than to join a team with any of them. Granted he had some sort of alliance with Natsu when they first started to fight Laxus but other than that he, in his eyes, had no business being there.

His red eyes widened slightly to see that Tessa now held the guild's mark on her shoulder and he could see a glimpse of it on Aria's chest from the snug black button up shirt she was buttoning up again.

Makarov stepped forward and narrowed his eyes at his grandson. He hadn't had an opportunity yet to speak to him regarding his actions and at this moment, he didn't care that others would be there to witness it.

"Laxus," he started, his voice dangerously low as he tried hiding his disappointment, "I don't think you understand the seriousness of what you have done."

The blonde didn't say anything.

"Look at me in the eyes young man."

Slowly but surely, his expressionless gaze fell to the small form of the person that had raised him. Laxus felt something tugging at his heart and he clenched his jaw as they made eye contact.

"Fairy Tail is a place where friends can gather. Wizards can find work. And children who have no kin to call their own can feel like they're part of a family. It's not something it can be owned. It's important that each member be loyal but also trustworthy. Otherwise no bonds will be formed and the entire guild will eventually fall apart."

Shame flashed quickly in Laxus' eyes that if Aria hadn't paid attention, she would've missed it.

"Your actions have proven that you lack both of those qualities. You risked the lives of your teams, of this guild."

Laxus turned to look at his team and he felt even worse. He looked back at his grandfather, "I'm sorry sir."

His team looked up, shocked to hear him _actually_ apologize for what happened. Freed instantly felt proud of his leader. Regardless of what he had done, he had enough courage to admit to his mistakes.

That was the last thing Makarov expected to hear. Not once, ever since he was a child, did Laxus apologize.

Laxus clenched his fist and slowly walked up, "I never meant to hurt the guild. I just… I just wanted to make it stronger."

A tiny smile spread on Makarov's wrinkled face, "I swear you're just as high strong as I am. You need to relax or you're going to end up in a hospital bed like me. Laxus… over the years I've watched you grow into the man that you are today. And I wonder where did I go wrong? What lesson didn't I teach you? But… the past is the past and I'm only left with one choice."

Evergreen let out a gasp as she covered her mouth, tears instantly welling up as she looked at her leader. Bickslow closed his eyes tightly in hopes of hiding his tears that wanted to fall. So he just placed a hand on her shoulder and brought her closer as he could feel her shaking. Freed could only stare wide eyed at Makarov. He knew the rules of Fairy Tail inside and out.

 _He's not going to-_

"Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow. Thunder Legion will be disbanded until further notice. You are _not_ to take jobs with each other. You may leave now."

The three of them nodded, not holding one ounce of strength to argue at the decision. They knew the damage they had done and were prepared for any punishment. Freed held the door open for his two comrades, and with one pity look towards Laxus, he slowly closed the door.

Team Natsu could only stare wide eyed at what was going on before them. Even Natsu felt uncomfortable being there.

Makarov turned to Laxus again, "Laxus… you will be removed as an S-Class wizard until you prove you have grown, and I am not talking about strength. You will temporarily leave the guild until you have completed a mission that I will be giving you."

He turned to look at Aria and Tessa and motioned them to step forward.

"I know the boy I raised is still there. You're just too stupid to realize it. I was told what you had to do last night in order to help this young woman, someone who _fought_ you, but you still helped her. Thanks to Tessa I'm more aware of the dragon lacrima that was placed in Aria. You will leave with her and train her to control it."

Both Laxus' and Aria's eyes widened at the news. She looked at Tessa, hoping her friend would back her up on regarding leaving the guild for a while, but she was silent. Tessa looked turned to Aria, her voice soft and pleading.

"It's for the best. It won't be for long because you're strong and I know you can do this."

Aria narrowed her eyes at her and then glared at Laxus who was ignoring her completely. This was not what she had expected when she had agreed to join the guild and for the lightning dragon slayer to help her.

Makarov finally turned to Team Natsu and Gajeel.

"I have brought you here to let you know that Tessa will be joining your team. I expect you to make her feel welcomed and help her since being away from someone she's traveled for so long will take a toll on her. Natsu and Gajeel. You both were also raised by a dragon just like her. I need the three of you to occasionally train or go on jobs together. I'm sure there's much more you three can learn from one another as well."

Team Natsu nodded eagerly as they looked at Tessa. Natsu could feel his blood pumping through his sore body as he could imagine the possible fights with the glass dragon slayer. Gajeel smirked and was inwardly curious and looking forward to sparring with her as well.

Tessa smiled at them as the Master finally finished.

"Now off with all of you. Everyone is preparing for tonight's parade and I expect all of you to do the same."

One by one started to leave but the Master stopped both Aria and Laxus. They were both tense as they stood next to each other.

"You two need to leave after the parade tonight. The faster you leave, the faster you may come back."

Aria bit her lip, "She told you _everything_?"

Her voice was raw with emotion. Part of her felt that she had been betrayed by the most important person in her life since she was thirteen. She had never known about friendship and family until she had met Tessa and for seven years, she had been her family. Even as she had gone through rebellious episodes when she was a teenager with her magic, Tessa had done what she could to be there.

Even more so when she had accidentally murdered her own aunt.

"I understand your past is not something to be proud of. But it has made you be into a powerful mage from what I have heard. Your lacrima now that it's active again will continue to give you more issues more than ever if you don't learn how to control it properly. Tessa has helped, but a person that has a lacrima in them will give you more knowledge on what to do."

She gave him a nod and with that she left. Laxus was beyond confused on what was going on with the girl so his eyes had followed her until she had left.

He turned around to question his grandfather of what she had said when he saw a certain shine in the old man's face.

He instantly narrowed his eyes, "It ain't gonna happen."

Makarov innocently looked at him, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Laxus decided to change the topic quickly, "Are you sure you want me to do this? I was expecting you to kick me out of the guild."

"Thank the stars above those two girls decided to come to the festival and one of them needs your help. If it wasn't for that, I would have. Now get out of my sight. I have an outfit to prepare for tonight."

* * *

Preparations for the Fantasia Parade skyrocketed amongst the guild members. Many felt in higher spirits as the adrenaline to put on a show for the town spread rapidly. The girls were gushing over outfits and makeup and hair. The men were quickly building the attractions with Ezra taking over and giving directions and commands left and right.

Tessa had been quickly pulled away by Bisca, Lucy, and Levy, the three girls gushing over her to be on their float during the parade.

She was in better spirits after talking to Aria. She had been a little concerned when Aria had pulled her away for a while to talk, but Aria wasn't angry. They talked for a long time, promising to one another that they will write to keep eachother updated.

Aria had no clue where she would be going with Laxus and for how long. She wanted to make sure Tessa would be ok with the rest of the guild since they had been with each other for so long. It was just fair to tease Tessa since she had told the Master everything about her life.

 _Have fun with the iron slayer when I'm gone!_ Aria's voice ran through Tessa's mind and she blushed. Such an absurd idea in her opinion. She could have gotten her friend back, but she rather be alive for the parade.

The streets of Magnolia were filled with various lights of distinct colors and illusions. Children were sporting different outfits from dressing like their favorite wizard or dressing like the cat Happy. The music was loud and vivid, adding more to the exciting atmosphere that was already filling the air.

Aria hated goodbyes, so she had left a letter to Tessa with Mira. She stood amongst the crowd, a small smile on her face as she saw now her fellow members having a lot of fun during the parade. She held back her laughter as she saw the outfit Tessa was wearing with the girls. In her eyes it was ridiculous, but for Tessa it was most likely adorable.

Bisca, Lucy, and Levy were twirling around a baton while Tessa stood in front, using her glass magic to create different animals that would shine brightly thanks to all the colorful lights that were everywhere. They locked eyes for a moment and Tessa smiled even bigger.

Each cart appeared slowly one after the other, giving the chance to all the townsfolk to be able to enjoy the entire thing. She found herself genuinely smiling when the cart where Makarov was appeared. The Master of Fairy Tail stood at the very top of the cat like head, his outfit bright with colorful stripes and he sported a hat with ears and a tail.

"You ready to go?" A low deep voice said from behind her.

She almost jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice. She had been in a trance while watching the entire parade that she didn't feel him coming.

Her smile quickly faded away as she looked at him and nodded. She gripped the strap of her bag tighter and adjusted it as she pushed past him and started walking away. He grunted at her but didn't say anything.

 _But grandpa! How will I find you in the crowd during the parade?!_

 _Don't worry my boy, I'm sure you will._

 _Oh, I know! In the middle of the parade, I'll do this!_

They made their way through the crowd and as they were about to go through an alley, Laxus abruptly stopped.

 _It's a message! When you see me raise my hand like this, it means even if I can't see you, I'm looking your way._

She heard his footsteps go silent and she turned around.

His back was now facing her and she could see his shoulders slightly shaking as he was looking back at the parade. Every single member of the guild had their hand raise, their index finger and thumb facing the air.

She didn't know what it meant, but she had a feeling that it was a message amongst them.

 _Tessa was right from what it seems like,_ she thought to herself.

 _We needed a guild._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! In case you're not aware of the changes I made in a note in chapter one: Basically I realized that the ages and time didn't go together. So I changed their age! Aria is 20– not 23 how it was previously implied. She's been with Tessa since she was 13 and met her soon after the dragons disappeared in x777. Hopefully I fixed those little mistakes in each of the chapters.

Continue reading and let me know what you think!

Chapter 5: Apart

Mira shook her head with a smile as she placed a third bottle of a chocolate milkshake in front of Tessa. The girl had asked for alcohol, but since it was still too early in the morning and Cana was already on her second barrel, she didn't want to see a second drunk so early and suggested a better, _sober_ , and more delicious option.

"I'm sure she will be ok," She said optimistically, "What's got you so upset?"

Tessa was silent for a moment as she sipped her milkshake, "Maybe the fact that she's going to need me to hide Laxus' body? And that we would have to leave the guild and forever be criminals running from the magic council? Or! What if he gets tired of her and kills her? She can be so infuriating!"

Lucy sat in the stool next to her and laughed, "You really think she would do that?"

Tessa paled as memories of Aria's temper flashed through her head.

"She may not have been raised by a dragon, but her mouth can spit fire like one."

Natsu popped up from behind her, "She's a fire dragon slayer too?!"

Tessa blinked and slowly turned her stool around to look at him like if he had grown two heads.

Lucy rolled her eyes at her best friend, "She means Aria has the temper of one."

Natsu's shoulders slumped down in disappointment.

"Are you sure they're training?" Happy peeped in, "They could be doing oooother things."

The girls eyes widened and blushed furiously while Natsu was looking at his partner in confusion.

"What do you mean Happy?"

Lucy grabbed the blue cat and covered his mouth, "Shut it cat!"

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Why don't you get ready for today's job? Lucy needs money for her rent and we all agreed to go with her to help her," Gray suggested as he walked up to them casually.

Tessa turned to look at him when she realized he was standing in his naked glory. The blush that was already fading away came back, so she quickly turned around to go back to her milkshake. She could hear Lucy and Natsu yelling at him due to his lack of clothes and it made her smile.

It had been a month since Aria had left and she hadn't gotten a letter in a week. During the whole month, the young woman was able to get used to the whole guild. She missed Aria deeply, but the entire guild had welcomed her with open arms. Specially Team Natsu. Gray and Lucy had right away jumped at the suggestion of showing her the entire town of Magnolia and Erza had offered her a room at Fairy Hills with two months of free rent while she got used to everything.

A few times in her room while she was asleep, Gajeel had woken her up by throwing small pebbles to her window. The iron dragon slayer was taking the instructions of what the Master had said of sparring with each other more seriously than what she had expected. After a few sparring sessions where Gajeel helped her more with hand to hand combat, she finally learned why he was so distant from the others, specially Lucy.

He had been hired with his other dark guild, Phantom Lord, by Lucy's father to take her back to her home. He told her what he had done to the guild's building. What he did to Levy, Droy, and Jet. What he had done to Lucy specially. Although no one would tell him anything, he felt he had not been fully forgiven for what he had done. She had felt bad for him, so a few times throughout the month, she had invited Gajeel over to eat with her and the rest of her new team. Natsu was the first one to object, and both Gray and Lucy had been a bit nervous, but with Erza's persuasion, Gajeel was able to join them for a few peaceful meals.

Well, most of the time they were peaceful.

She had learned a lot more from both Natsu and Gajeel about their dragons. It had taken her a while to say her mother's name, Uzume. She enjoyed speaking to them about the memories they had of their dragons and the similarities they all shared.

In just a month, she felt she had grown a lot, but her best friend wasn't here to enjoy everything and that made her upset. She just hoped that Laxus really was helping her and that they would return soon.

She finished the rest of her milkshake and grinned at Lucy. The young blonde smiled brightly at her and put an arm around her as they left the guild with Erza on their way to the job they were going to do, with both Gray and Natsu still behind them.

* * *

A month.

A freaking month since the two dragon slayers had left Magnolia and it had been the most difficult mission his grandfather could have ever given Laxus. He _almost_ wished he had been banished than to deal with her. The girl had proven herself to be a demon.

There was no other way to describe it. Her personality was extremely witty and sarcastic. Majority of the time _bitchy_ but he learned the hard way to not voice that out loud. He had noticed that the more he tried getting any information on what his grandfather had said about her, she would withdraw herself even more.

She was ruthless in combat, but while she may be graceful, she didn't use her head that much. After sparring a few times in silence, he was able to memorize all her techniques. Once he started to prove to her that she was rather easy to read after a while, she got angrier.

He had opted out to an old school type of training. The girl needed to focus with no distractions, so he had made them travel through the forest and mountains. They were hundreds of miles away from Magnolia and a couple of miles away from the nearest town.

They hardly spoke, always keeping to themselves, but the times they did, they were at each other's throats.

He was rather glad for the silence, but he wasn't sure how long he was going to last like that. He had gotten used to the rowdiness of his team and from the guild. She didn't speak unless he spoke to her, and even then, it was very short answers.

He could at least say there had been a progress with controlling her lacrima's energy. So at least he was glad about that.

It wasn't until the third week that they had gotten somewhere. They had been sparring further out from their camp, when they came across a pack of very angry Gorians. Laxus had inwardly cursed since they tended to be very tough against magical attacks majority of the time.

They were vicious as they stared angrily at the pair. Aria was panting hard since Laxus never went easy on her, so now the Gorians showing up was just horrible timing. With their speed, they were able to take down the pack with not much difficulty. Laxus had gotten punched right on the face one and Aria had only been kicked once. However, they had both missed one last Gorian that had used its green fur to hide up high in the trees that he was only spotted when it was too late.

The Gorian jumped down, and with a punch, he sent Aria flying and snapping a tree in half. Laxus cursed loudly as his nose smelled her blood that he didn't even realized he had killed the Gorian until his hand was covered in its blood.

He had rushed to her and he grimaced at the deep gash that she had on her head and on her shoulder. He had picked her up and using his lightning, he took them to the nearest town to a doctor.

It had taken her two days to wake up, and when she did, her body was extremely sore.

She was shocked to see Laxus on a nearby chair, shoulders slumped and his arms across his chest with his head down as he was sleeping. Her fingers made their way to her head and she could feel the soreness of the side where she knew she had gotten hurt.

The nurse came in with a tray of food, which she expected for it to be for Laxus, when the young woman smiled at her.

She did a quick check of her vitals and asked her a few questions before getting the doctor. As she gathered the other tray of dirty dishes that was on the table, she turned to her.

"Your boyfriend didn't leave you once the whole time you were asleep. You're a lucky girl."

Aria stuttered with a reply, but by the time she was going to correct the nurse, she had left her room.

"And you say I'm an asshole," his voice filled the room, clear amusement evident on it.

Her eye twitched as she turned to glare at him, "Shut it or I'll shove the plastic fork up your ass."

He snorted, not even phased by her glare anymore.

"Here I hoped the hit on your head would get rid of your nasty personality."

She looked at his bruised face, "I hoped the Gorian had fixed your ugly face. But I guess a girl can only dream."

Her voice was extremely cheery as she innocently smiled at him. Or as innocent as she could muster.

He rolled his eyes at her and leaned further back on his chair, crossing his leg.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he looked at her bandaged head and arms. Her silver hair was messy, strings of hair pointing one way or another. She had dark circles under her eyes even as she looked at him like if he was stupid.

"I got slammed into a goddam tree. How the hell do you think I feel?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose to compose himself. He can always get her back at their camp during training.

"…I guess thank you," he heard her quietly say. His eyes shot up wide since that was the first time she had spoken to him in a nicer tone than what he was used to. She was always snapping and sneering at him. Even mocking him.

She saw the look on his face and rolled her eyes, "You could've left me there to die and get rid of me. It's not like we chose to do this voluntarily honestly. So… thanks for not letting me die."

And for the first time since they left the guild, he grinned. It was barely there, but a grin nonetheless.

He decided to push his luck a bit further, "Do you want me to feed you babe?"

"You really want me to shove the fork up your ass, don't you?"

The doctor had given her the clear after four more days of being at the hospital. She had literally jumped out of the bed and quickly dressed, not caring Laxus was there who at least turned around to give her some privacy and rushed out the door.

She couldn't remember the name of the town, but it's not like they were going to stay there. Laxus was about to tell her he could take them straight back to their camp when she stopped suddenly.

"Is there a post office nearby?" her voice rose at a slight high pitch.

His mind quickly started going back to the times he had come to the town for various jobs.

"I think there's one three blocks away. Why?"

"You may have to do a funeral for me. I totally forgot writing Tessa back. Hopefully they can deliver it overnight."

He touched the back of his pocket and pulled something out and held it out to her.

"You can use this. Communication lacrima."

"So I could've used this to contact her instead of figuring out how to send my letters?"

"Yep."

"You're such an ass."

"Yep."

* * *

Tessa was used to being on her feet due to the years of traveling by foot, but this was the first time she was extremely exhausted. When she had heard it was about being a waitress, she thought she had it in the bag.

But the small business owner, former council member, gave them a huge surprise.

It had been a constant arguing, getting the orders mixed up, and Natsu constantly eating the customer's food.

They were lucky the old man liked Lucy and ended up paying her. Probably because he still felt guilty over the events of the Tower of Heaven and the whole ordeal with Jellal.

When they got back to the guild, they were surprised to have see various members standing by the bar where Reedus had drawn up a chart of all the different dark guilds. Mira smiled at Team Natsu when they got there, but her expression quickly changed.

Tessa was able to recognize some of the dark guilds, having to have encounter them one way or another in the past.

"There's so many of them," Lucy whispered next to Tessa.

"Far more than what I realized," Erza added in.

"What brought this on?" Tessa found herself asking.

Mira went in a long explanation regarding the biggest dark guilds and from there how the rest of the smaller ones worked. She told them that it was going to become necessary for the major legal guilds of the country to work together and form alliances with them. Juvia helped her out, explaining some of the guilds worked under the three major dark guilds that formed the Balam Alliance. Eventually, the Oracion Seis were brought up. Lucy was starting to worry since her and Team Natsu had taken out one of their sub guilds in the past, but she was reassured that nothing would happen since they only had six members. Mira jumped in, explaining that although they were six of them, they were extremely powerful. She was interrupted when she heard the communication lacrima going off at the bar so she stepped away.

The others were still talking amongst themselves until they heard a familiar voice coming from the lacrima Mira was holding.

 _Hey Mira! Is Tessa around?"_

Tessa's head whirled around and ran up to Mira who happily gave her the lacrima. Tessa looked and she was very happy and relieved to see her best friend still in one piece.

"Where the hell have you been?! I haven't heard from you! I thought something happened!" She yelled at her, not caring that the other members were now coming closer to her.

Aria scratched the back of her head, _"Well… some Gorians happened and I was kind of unconscious and the doctor barely gave me the go."_

"Where the fuck was Laxus in all of this?"

Aria winced. If Tessa was cursing she was definitely pissed.

The lightning dragon slayer appeared behind Aria, a bored look on his face as he looked at Tessa.

 _A Gorian was hiding in the trees. It acted too fast. I killed it though so you don't have to have your panties in a twist."_

Tessa blinked and then a huge smile appeared on her face, "Oh well I'm glad to hear that!"

Laxus shook his head thinking, _She must be bipolar._

Their conversation was cut short as the Master appeared at the entrance of the guild. He had heard the whole conversation regarding the Oracion Seis.

"Speaking of the Oracion Seis," he said, "Word has come down that we must destroy them".

Laxus grabbed the lacrima from Aria, slightly pushing her away, " _Old man, what do you mean?"_

Tessa wanted to laugh at the look Aria was giving Laxus for shoving her away but instead, she turned to Mira who put the lacrima on a lacrima screen so both of them could see the Master.

"Oracion Seis recent activity was the main discussion at the conference I just came from. They pose an urgent threat that can no longer be ignored. Therefore they must be dealt with immediately. We will take them down before they can cause more harm to others."

 _So Fairy Tail has to do all the dirty work?"_ Laxus booming asked dryly. But Aria knew better. Although they had hardly spoken the past month, she was able to read him and she could see he was slightly concerned.

Gray scoffed, "Well that's typical."

"We are taking them on by ourselves?" Juvia asked worriedly.

Makarov shook his head, "Fighting them alone would be too dangerous. We would have the wrath of the Balam Alliance in no time. Fairy Tail will be joining a coalition of magical guilds."

"What?!" Everyone in the guild asked surprised.

"Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Cate Shelter. All four guilds will be selecting members to represent them in the allied force."

Natsu jumped in quickly, "Is this really necessary? I mean, I can probably do it on my own."

He received silence and unamused looks at his remark. Erza hit him on the head, "Don't be a fool. It's wise that we join other guilds."

"Laxus," the Master said sharply, "Is her training complete? If it is, I would like you two to be one of the few I'll be sending out."

Aria's hear skipped a beat as she heard the Master, but before she could even say anything, Laxus placed a hand on her mouth and he shook his head.

 _Not yet_."

The Master hummed in understanding, "Then I'll be sending Team Natsu with their new member Tessa."

Aria's eyes widened, but the connection was cut as Laxus put the lacrima away and let her go.

His ears were already ringing and she hadn't said anything yet.

* * *

The Master had wanted the group to leave immediately early in the morning the following day. She would be a liar if she said she wasn't nervous. Yeah, she was outgoing and whatnot, but the entire guild and her team were counting on her. She wasn't sure if she would be able to meet their standards. If those from the Oracion Seis were as powerful as they said, could she really stand a chance?

She was a bit more confident about herself. The spars with Gajeel had helped a ton. When she would fight Natsu, yeah she was excited and eager, but the kid would attack just straight on. He fought her for fun, but he hardly ever really points out what she was doing wrong.

Gajeel on the other hand, whenever she would do something wrong, he would make her fall on her ass and point it out. But even then, she didn't feel she was strong enough to be given a task like that.

The familiar sound of rocks hitting her window reached her ears. She quickly put on a jacket over her blue shirt and her shoes and sneaked out of Fairy Hills.

She was grateful for her sense of hearing and nose. So far, no one had noticed her leaving in the middle of the night.

He was standing by a tree with his typical arms crossed in front of his chest and leaning casually against the tree. She could see his facial piercings glowing softly with the moonlight.

"I take it you want to fight me to make sure I won't die on this mission?"

He rolled his red eyes at her when suddenly, he took out a scroll from his back pocket and tossed it at her.

She wasn't expecting it, so she let out a small 'eep' as she fumbled with the scroll as she caught it. She let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't looked like a fool by dropping it.

"What's this?" she asked curiously.

"Follow me."

She followed him into the forest, sometimes slightly skipping as she was enjoying the chilly air although she was wearing shorts. Eventually a small clearing came and he pointed to the floor. She sat without question and he did across from her.

"Open it."

She gave him a confused look but did as he asked her. Inside the scroll, there was pictures of each Oracion Seis member with detailed information about them.

She fumbled with her words, "H-how do you have this?"

He let out a heavy sigh, "Working for Phantom Lord had its perks."

Her eyes kept widening the more she read through each page. Eventually she came across the last member.

"Cobra…"

"Poison Dragon Slayer."

She groaned, "It should be you going. Or Laxus or Aria. Not me. I know I can hold my own… but what it says about him. I'm not sure if I can handle that."

"There's a reason why the Master didn't ask me to go. Even if I don't like him, I agree he should've gone. I thought this would be useful to you girl."

She found the gesture extremely nice of him. She knew that under that 'I don't care about everyone' attitude he had was just a façade. She felt slightly honored to know that she was almost the only one that tried to get to know him for the past month. She considered him a close friend.

"This was very nice of you, thank you." She said as she gave him a radiant smile. Gajeel rolled his eyes as he tried calming down the blush that wanted to spread across his cheeks.

"Why do you say that about Laxus? From what I heard, you two didn't start with the right foot when you joined the guild."

He sighed, "Well I _did_ destroy their guild hall. But what I mean is, if Laxus would have been there when the whole thing of Phantom Lord happened, I don't think you would've been talking to me right now. He was wiping the floor with me and the flame brain."

She sat in silence, pondering for a moment at what he had said. It must have taken a lot of him to even admit what he said.

So instead of sparring, the two slayers spent their time in the clearing. Tessa memorized everything about her upcoming foes and any question she had, Gajeel had answered within seconds.

When he had walked her back to the outskirts of Fairy Hills, he had placed a hand on her head and gave her a serious look.

"You will die if you continue doubting yourself. Don't. You'll be fine. Kick their ass."

And before she could reply to him to him, he turned around and left. She blinked, confused as she saw his retreating form. She could feel herself now blushing and her heart started beating a little faster as she replayed his words in her head.

With a newfound form of confidence, she walked back inside the building, trying to hold back the grin that wanted to spread.

* * *

Aria had been furious at the fact that Laxus had opened his mouth and told the majority of the guild she wasn't ready to go back. She had never been more embarrassed in her life, but instead of yelling at him and cussing him out, she had walked away, the slight trail of salt following her.

It had taken Laxus a minute to realize that she walked away crying, and for some reason, he really did feel like an asshole.

He had tried following her, but the girl had figured out how to be lighter on her feet and hide her scent. They were at least a good ten miles away from their camp and he only hoped she made it back.

Half way, he heard trees breaking and anguished cries. The closer he got, the more magical energy he started to feel. He hid behind a tree and masked his scent as he looked over.

Her blue aura was completely covering her entire body. The cracks of electricity flickering every now and then. Each punch was so brutal, he was sure he would have a couple of broken ribs and possibly internal bleeding if she were to punch him right at that moment.

"I know you're there," She said with a faint voice not facing him.

His eyes widened but slowly came out of his hiding spot. She turned around, her eyes practically glowing as the wind started to blow around her.

"Fight me."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "You just got out of the hospital."

"Do it. I need to get this down. My best friend is about to fight a powerful guild and I am not there to back her up. I have to do this."

His eyes narrowed, but without saying a word, he brought out his own aura as his yellow lightning started flickering around him as well. She was determined and that was something he was admiring.

"Fine, but if I win, you're cooking for the next week."

She smirked, "Deal."

 _You can do it Tessa… next time, I'll be by your side and we will kick ass._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Enter Oracion Seis

Tessa couldn't have been happier the moment the carriage had stopped at their destination. Usually she was good at controlling her motion sickness, but seeing Natsu turning unusual colors (specifically green) the poor young woman had a hard time keeping her food inside.

She shared some of the information from the scroll that Gajeel had given her. She saw it unfair that only she could know so much about the Oracion Seis. This was her team now and they needed to be prepared as well. She still found Gajeel's way of looking out for her very sweet. He didn't have to train with her. He didn't have to give her information that who knows how he got. But he did and she was happy about that.

Having met the rest from the other guilds had been rather interesting. All three men selected from Blue Pegasus quickly tried to charm each one of the girls. She had blushed furiously when Hibiki had gone up to her instantly flirting, catching the attention of the other two members who quickly approached her. They fretted over her beauty immediately.

She was not used to so much attention. She was still fumbling over words when Gray got a hold of her waist and pulled her away. He warned all three of them to back off or he would freeze them. They immediately obeyed and he had stayed by her side. Once Ichiya had appeared, the creepy scale weighing in her head went overboard. He was way too close for her liking, always speaking about her ' _parfume_ '. Lucy was also cringing beside her, inching closer and closer gripping on to Tessa's jacket.

She was slightly grateful when his attention had gone to Erza, but she did feel bad for the requip mage as well. Gray got sick of it and once again warned the males. Ichiya however, didn't listen to him.

"Can you pretty boys even fight?" He asked annoyed as his muscles tensed.

Ren smirked at him, "You want to fight?"

Natsu had been sitting on the floor the whole time recovering from his sickness until he heard the word 'fight.'

Things hadn't gone any easier when Lamia Scale showed up. Tessa remained quiet while everyone else started bickering amongst themselves, except Lucy and Happy who were taking cautious steps backwards. It was just a matter of time that a fight would break out with their allied guilds.

She had acted before thinking.

"Glass Dragon Wall!"

She had gotten on one knee and had slammed her palm against the carpet on the floor. Suddenly, various walls of glass appeared in front of everyone, stopping them in their tracks.

A slow clap came from the entrance of the guild. He was tall— taller than Laxus himself. His voice was deep and his presence alone screamed power.

"Good to know that someone here still has some sense. We are here for one thing only, stop the Oracion Seis."

"Jura!" Many of them exclaimed. Tessa's eyes widened. She had heard of him. He was one of the ten wizard saints. One of the most powerful mages in all of Fiore.

After a while of some mindless bickering, Tessa's nose had twitched the moment she caught the scent of someone new. Something was extremely familiar about her scent but she rather not say anything until she was positive what she was smelling and it wasn't her nose playing tricks on her. Her eyes had widened the moment she saw the form of a small blue haired girl with a striped blue and yellow short dress running into the building and tripping on her own two feet.

 _No way_ , Tessa thought to herself.

"Cait Shelter sent a little girl?" Gray asked.

Sherry looked at her with disapprovingly, "They only sent one member?"

"You shouldn't judge her right away!" the voice of a woman spoke up. They all turned to the door to see a talking cat just like Happy. She was dressed in a pretty pink dress with sleeves, but her fur was snow white instead of blue. Tessa looked at Happy right away and he already had a thoughtful look in his face.

"I'm Wendy and I'm looking forward to working with all of you!" She smiled shyly as she got up and dusted herself, clearly embarrassed for her clumsiness.

"And I'm Carla," the white cat said haughtily.

Jura had glanced at the girl and turned around, "Now that we are all here, we can get started."

Tessa didn't know what came over her, but the moment she saw all three Blue Pegasus fretting all around her, she stomped over to them.

"Leave the girl alone," she lowly growled.

Once everyone had calmed down, Ichiya was able to go into a long, more detailed explanation of the Oracion Seis.

Everything he was saying, she had already memorized so she drifted on her own thoughts. She had a feeling they would be encountering them very soon and was glad she had opted out on wearing her brown boots and her hair was in a high ponytail. For the meanwhile, she kept watch of the small girl from the corner of her eye.

* * *

"Would you hurry up with the food already? I'm starving over here."

He sensed a knife being thrown his way and he avoided it with ease. He quirked his eyebrow at her, clearly not amused by her choice of response.

The night before they had fought hard with no holding back whatsoever. It seemed that she had been paying attention the criticism that he would mutter to himself when he would spar with her. He had felt her thunder shifting and he had laid out a sigh of relief to see that they were finally getting somewhere. Eventually, he felt the fight had gone long enough that he ended it brutally.

She was dressed in a red tank top with jean shorts. Her arms and legs were covered in bandages since his Raging Bolt had hit her at full power. He was impressed that she could even stand up. When he had first unleashed it, he felt that he may have gone overboard, but she had taken it.

However, deal was a deal and now she had to cook for all of their meals for the next week.

"Keep it up and I will poison you," she spat out not looking back at him.

"You're rather peachy this morning," he responded dryly.

She growled low in her throat, "I think I liked it more when you were a silent bastard."

"What am I now?"

"An annoying bastard."

The rest of the morning went by without much action. She had refused to spar, saying that she needed to be a few hours alone to train by herself. Not that Laxus complained. He was grateful being alone for a while.

There was a lot to think about.

He had been surprised his grandfather had even acknowledged him the day before. It had felt weird, looking at him and answering his questions. He had seen the look on some of the guild members when they had seen his face. Some of them did not forgive him yet and he couldn't blame them. He had acted like a major asshole. He had been hoping he could catch a glance from his own team members, but from what he saw, they were not inside the guild. That made him feel even more guilty.

During the whole planning of the battle of Fairy Tail, he had seen Freed's apprehension with the plan. But since he respected Laxus and saw him as his leader and friend, he had followed him through.

He felt sick over the fact that he had been thinking of using Fairy Law for the short amount that Natsu and Gajeel had fought with him. The guilt was overwhelming the whole time he's been with Aria.

He didn't want to think what could have happened if Aria had not appeared. Would he have viciously killed Natsu and Gajeel?

He felt resentment at the iron slayer, since it was thanks to his actions that a lot of people had less respect for Fairy Tail. He had seen him as scum, a monster for doing what he did to the guild.

However, he had almost done the same thing. If anything, a lot worse because he put his own guild mates against each other.

He was not looking forward to going back. Part of him hoped that she would take longer to control her power better. But after what he had seen last night, it was just a matter of time. He knew she hated being around him. He had acted like an arrogant asshole during the fight and had beaten the crap out of her and it was because of him she had to unleash her dragon powers again.

Now she was stuck with him.

He had reflected a lot during the past month, and he felt he would continue to do so. He had admitted to himself that he was worried that Team Natsu had gone after the Oracion Seis. He never encountered them, but he had heard and seen the reports of how ruthless they were.

He wanted to go back, but at the same time, he didn't want to.

* * *

Tessa had never been more disappointed or angry at herself in a long time. She couldn't believe the Oracion Seis had taken them all on like if they were nothing. They had given them a fierce battle and they had barely broke a sweat. Cristina, the magical machine from Blue Pegasus, was now in pieces after being destroyed. They had kidnapped Wendy and Happy and Erza was lying injured thanks to Cobra's snake.

If it hadn't been for Jura, they all could've been dead too.

Tessa had found herself being supported by Gray and hissed, feeling extreme pain in her ribs where Racer had kicked her multiple times. Ichiya quickly helped all the injured with a painkiller parfume.

Although the parfume helped her bruised ribs, it didn't do anything to her bruised pride. She was nowhere near as prideful as Aria, but the pride she did hold she held onto it dearly. She felt like she had let her guild, her teammates, Aria, and Gajeel down. All those nights of sparring were useless in that moment.

The situation didn't get easier when Erza had asked them to cut off her arm to prevent the venom from spreading. Lyon was quickly to oblige to her wishes, grabbing her sword and bringing it down to her arm.

 _"Get up," He roughly said to her as he crossed his arms across his chest. Tessa groaned painfully as she coughed. Gajeel had landed a strong punch on her stomach and had knocked the air out of her._

 _"It doesn't matter how hard I hit you, get up. Think of another way to attack me. Don't let one hit get you out of the game."_

Tessa had felt move Gray from her side, but she was faster. She was angry, and although she could see the logic behind Lamia Scale's actions to listen to Erza, she wasn't going to let Lyon chop off her friend's arm. Gajeel's words were replaying in her head.

Her glass covered her whole arm in thick layers and used it as a shield when the sword that Lyon had was inches away from cutting Erza's arms. Her green eyes flashed angrily, and a low vicious growl was coming from her body.

"Back off," she said slowly.

Her team's eyes widened at the ferocity of her tone. They were surprised since they had never seen her that way. She was always nice, laughing with them. Even Natsu hadn't seen this side of her when sparring. Due to his sharp eyesight, he could see her scales wanting to come forward.

Gray joined her, glaring at Lyon, "There has to be another way!"

Tessa's lip lifted in a silent snarl at Lyon until he finally lowered the sword.

"We need Wendy," Tessa said as she straightened her back.

Everyone looked at her confused. Carla walked up to her, "You know?"

"I pieced everything together the moment he called her the Maiden of the Sky. Wendy is a sky dragon slayer, capable of healing magic."

* * *

Aria was sitting at the edge of a cliff with her legs crossed in front of her. Her hands were clenched in tight fists and small droplets of sweat fell off her forehead. Her eyes were tightly shot as she tried to concentrate. She could feel the power shifting inside of her. It was calling to her, but she still didn't trust it. The clouds above were coming together, creating a dark gray roof above her. The familiar rumbling in the sky sent chills down her spine. The wind started to blow harder and faster, making her medium silver hair float around her shoulders. The rumbling of the sky got louder and then powerful thunder rung in the sky followed by thick clashes of lightning.

She took a deep breath and she brought out her own aura as she felt the lightning from the sky coming down on her. The dragon within her wanted to be let out, but she wouldn't obey. She wanted to be in control. She couldn't find herself to lose more control anymore. She had already killed someone in the past. She hated her, she had despised her with everything she had. Killing was too much, but it still happened. She injured herself and she hurt Laxus in the process as well.

Was it a matter of time that she would hurt her best friend? Or someone from the guild?

She didn't want to be known as a killer. She wanted to be known to be a powerful mage, capable of controlling her own magic even when it reached a certain point.

She knew she could do it, she knew she had the strength.

She was just afraid.

The moment he felt the magical energy in the area rising at a great speed, he had left his own training and dashed forward to the direction where he could smell her. His eyes had widened as her aura was increasing, and for a moment he almost reached out to stop her. The last time it had happened, both of them had gashes all over them.

The same shift in her aura he felt before was there. He saw the way the slight muscles on her back tended and the sweat dripping off her body. He had to give her that much, she wasn't the type to give up. She wanted to prove something to herself and no one else.

Eventually, she allowed the thick lightning crash into her, the familiar golden color instantly turning an aqua blue the moment it touched her. The sky trembled and she just absorbed everything.

He could see her breathing heavily, her shoulders moving slowly up and down. The air stopped for a moment, pure silence settling at the cliff.

She inhaled and his eyes widened.

She didn't call out the spell. Out of her mouth, one of the most powerful forms of a dragon roar surged from

her body. The impact destroyed landscapes, just leaving a trail of fried land.

He heard her chuckle, then slowly she fell to her side, passing out.

He turned around to leave her be, but something tugged at him.

He only hoped that she wouldn't wake up while he was carrying her.

* * *

The allies decided to form different groups in order to search for Wendy. Lucy didn't feel too confident to help them, even though Tessa begged her to come, and she rather stay with Hibiki to protect Erza. With his archive magic, he assured everyone he could keep each one updated on what was going on.

Natsu, Gray, Tessa, and Carla had taken one direction while Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus chose another area to search. Tessa had immediately been questioned by both Natsu and Carla on how she knew what Wendy was.

"Uzume and Grandeeney knew each other," she said as she panted while she ran, "She brought Wendy for us to see her when she first found her," she let out a small laugh at the memory, "She wanted advise on how to deal with a girl, since female dragon slayers were unheard of. Wendy was asleep the whole time, probably why my scent didn't click in her head."

Carla flew right next to her, "Do you know what happened to Uzume?"

"She was gone the same day as all the other dragons."

Their conversation was cut short when they came across a small dark guild, Naked Mummy. Tessa felt irritated since they were wasting time, but there was nothing she could do when both of her friends agreed to fight them.

She joined them, quickly producing various glass daggers in her hand and sending them towards her enemies. Within minutes, they were able to dispose of them. But things were never that easy since Erigor appeared to fight Natsu. Gray and Tessa were getting impatient until Natsu had finally wrapped up the fight.

The search continued, and both dragon slayers finally caught a scent of the young girl. Which could only mean the hideout was not far ahead from them.

Tessa and Gray were sent flying to a tree out of nowhere. They groaned loudly and when they looked up, they both narrowed their eyes at Racer.

"Natsu, go get Wendy." Tessa growled without looking at him.

He hesitated for a second, not wanting to leave them, but he knew he had no choice. He grabbed Carla and took off into the direction where Wendy was.

Racer cackled as he looked at the pair, "You really think you can stop me? I'm too fast for you."

Just as the words had left his mouth, a dagger was flung at him, cutting him right on his cheek. His eyebrows shot up, but his eyes were hidden by his dark glasses.

He didn't say anything as a small trail of blood started going down his cheek.

Tessa brought out another dagger, playfully playing with it with her fingers, "You were saying?"

He screamed angrily and as he dashed forward, Gray had frozen the ground, making Racer's destination switch and crash into a giant glass wall. Tessa smirked at the ice mage and so did he.

This was going to be too easy.

Or so they thought.

* * *

Aria groaned as she felt the pounding headache as she woke up. The smell of food was rather captivating and her stomach started to immediately growl loudly. She sat up slowly, confused. She was back at their camp. She was surprised seeing Laxus by the fire, a spoon in hand as he continued mixing the contents in the small pot.

"I thought I was supposed to be the one cooking," she groggily said as she fully came into a sitting position.

"Thought I would give you a break after what you did," he muttered not turning around to look at her.

Her golden eyes widened, "You saw that?"

She heard his small snort, "Kind of hard to miss when the sky got cloudy out of nowhere."

She was grateful that he had his back to her, she didn't have to worry about the small blush appearing on her cheeks. She had forgotten the sky had gotten like that.

"Thanks I guess. For not leaving me out to the wolves."

"It was tempting."

She rolled her eyes at his tone. She wanted to say something back, more specifically, something to piss him off how she had done so the past month. But ever since he basically saved her life from bleeding out of her head, her picture of the lightning mage had changed.

Very minimal change. But a change nonetheless.

She still saw him as a tall, muscular, arrogant asshole. A know-it-all too. Under all of that though, she could literally feel the guilt from him in waves for what he had done at the guild. When the Master had asked if she was ready, she was honestly going to say she wasn't. But the fact that Laxus had covered her mouth and answered for her, _that_ had embarrassed her. She knew soon she would have it down, but part of her wanted to lag it a little bit longer, because she knew he wasn't ready to face the guild yet. She wasn't sure why she even wanted to help him with that, she just did.

She snapped out of it the moment his large hand was waving in front of her, his face a couple of inches away.

"You finally losing it?"

She blinked quickly and backed her face away a bit, "No, why?"

He raised his eyebrow at her, "I've asked you three times if you wanted to eat already." He handed her a bowl of the stew he made and she grabbed it without looking at him.

He let out a heavy sigh and surprised her by sitting across from her. He put his arms behind him to support his weight as he leaned back.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

The question caught her off guard that she started choking on her own air.

This time both eyebrows shot up as he was looking at her face, light tan skin becoming scarlet red.

She cleared her throat, "I don't hate you," she drawled, trying to figure the best way to explain it to him.

"I'm just not a particular fan of yours. I mean, if we were in a desert and we only had one water bottle, I would tell everyone in the guild that you were a good man and died bravely."

He dryly looked at her, "Your sense of humor is shitty. But I'm being serious. Yes we fought, but to have such a dislike to me?"

She took a sip of the stew and spat it out, "Your food is shitty! Haven't you ever heard of salt?"

He glared at her and she glared back until she finally groaned.

"I just think you're an arrogant bastard with a huge inflated ego. That's what got you in your sticky situation in the first place."

She placed her bowl down, waiting for him to respond to that. He was still silent so she decided to push it a bit more.

"And I can tell you're totally bothered that a _girl_ was able to draw blood."

He was still quiet, but eventually he surprised her.

"That's fair. I think you're an annoying brat. I guess we are even."

"You were not going to call me a brat, were you?"

He got up, but as he walked away he grinned at her, "Nope."

Her face flushed in anger and she almost threw the plate at him.

She couldn't however. She was too hungry and she actually found the stew delicious.

 _Stupid arrogant bastard..._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Racing towards the finish

Tessa really thought that the fight would be a whole lot easier because she was pairing up with Gray.

She wanted to hit herself for how wrong she was.

At first they were doing great, being able to intercept him and hitting him straight on, but Racer was faster than them. He kept toying with them, a couple of moments making them crash into one another. She had used her own speed as a dragon slayer, but she was still slow compared to the wizard. The only attack that by thus far had done any damage to Racer was her dragon glass roar. She had nicked him a couple of times, giving her a bit of advantage by sniffing his blood, but he would just become faster.

They were able to see that Natsu had successfully rescued Happy and Wendy. Racer went to attack them, but Gray was able to intercept him, making the wizard more furious as the time went on.

Eventually Racer created some grand prix and materialized two lacrima motorcycles for them to race on. However, her motion sickness had kicked into effect, proving herself rather useless to ride the motorcycle with Gray. She used her own tactics, trying to give Gray the upper hand. Using her glass walls and occasionally throwing glass daggers at Racer, Gray had been able to land powerful hits on him.

Gray was slowly out of magic, his attacks becoming slower than usual. Racer smirked as he saw this, but decided to take a different route.

She had tried avoiding him, but his attack had come quick and ruthless. The moment his fist landed on her stomach, she coughed, blood immediately coming out of her mouth. Just when Racer was going to be getting a second attack on her, a giant gorilla made of ice had punched him away from her.

Gray had quickly run to her as she groaned in pain.

"T-that bastard," she growled as she winced as Gray lifted her shirt to see the damage. He could see the major bruise. The purple, blue, and red making it almost black. If Racer had gotten a second hit, his fist would have gone right through her. He wouldn't doubt that she had a broken rib or two. He removed his shirt and created a piece of ice, placing it right on her bruised stomach and using his shirt as a bandage as he wrapped it around her.

Her arm grasped his forearm and hissed as the coolness of his ice numbed the pain.

"Gray, I need some help over here!" They heard Lyon saying from behind him. Gray looked at Tessa, worried about leaving her alone when Sherry appeared.

"Go, I'll stay with her!"

Tessa had been worried since the beginning she could see the rivalry between Lyon and Gray, but she was surprised to see them working perfectly in sync. Sherry had gone to help them after leaving Tessa against a tree. By this point, they had reached another cliff when Lyon and Gray had formulated a plan. She wanted to laugh at the irony that Racer wasn't fast, he would just slow down his enemies. Their plan had worked perfectly, leaving both ice wizards grinning wide as they had been successful at getting rid of one of the Oracion Seis.

Gray had immediately gone to her, picking her up bridal style since she had been shaking from the pain while standing. Sherry had gone off, exclaiming how Gray was such a gentleman by picking her up when he was out of magic. This left both friends blushing and avoiding eye contact. Even Lyon had been smirking at them.

However, Tessa's eyes widened as she caught the familiar scent of Racer.

He laughed maniacally at them, "You fools you think you can take me on—let's see how you deal with this!"

He ripped his shirt to reveal a bomb lacrima counting down on his chest. Tessa pushed Gray away, her barely landing on her feet. The clock was about to reach zero when she had used one of her daggers to rip the bomb from the vest and kicked Racer.

Her eyes widened as she raised her hands.

The blast had been powerful, knocking Lyon, Gray, and Sherry off their feet. There was smoke everywhere and Gray's heart had dropped.

"TESSA!"

* * *

He wasn't sure why he had even invited her. He had found the waterfall when he had been doing his own training on the forest. The small lake seemed to be connected to the bigger lake where they tended to either fish, bathe, and train. The moment he was back on camp, he immediately asked her if she wanted to go see the waterfall. He was expecting for her to tell him to go fuck himself, but she surprised him by jumping up and going inside her tent to change.

The walk had been quiet as usual, both were lost in their own thoughts. Once they had reached the lake with the waterfall, Aria had jumped in immediately. The water had splashed everywhere, wetting Laxus in the process.

When she surfaced again, she laughed at his expression and how his spiky hair was now on flat against his scalp.

He glared at her, and without moving a finger, he shocked her. She screamed since she had been caught off guard and the water made his attack to sting even more.

She flipped him off, something he had been expecting. However, instead of retaliating the attack, she told him to get in the water. There was a moment of hesitation from him, but he jumped in the water nonetheless. He welcomed the coolness against his muscles and he couldn't help but grin at her the moment he surfaced again. Her response was splashing water right at his face and swimming away. This instantly created a battle in the water, a playful one that is. He wasn't deaf. He heard her giggle a couple of times.

They swam around for hours until Aria decided to take a break. They got out of the lake and each reached for their own towels. He was drying his head when he heard her walk up to him.

His eyebrow shot up in confusion as he looked down at her. She barely reached his chest. Her eyes were slightly narrowed as she looked at him without saying anything.

"We already know I'm almost ready to go back," she started, "But when do you think you'll be the one to be ready?"

His eyes widened since he wasn't expecting that question at all.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the bullshit Sparky. You don't want to go back. You want to prolong it as long as you can."

He glared at her, completely forgetting about his hair, "That's none of your business."

"It kind of is since I'm here stuck with you."

He lowered his voice, "You didn't have to agree. I could've gotten expelled instead."

She gave him a look, "Would you really leave your friends like that? So what that you went nuts. Everyone loses their mind at some point."

Once she said that, she turned around and sat down on one of the bigger rocks that was right next to the lake. The tip of her toes could touch the water and she thoughtfully submerge them in.

"I killed my aunt."

His eyes widened at her confession and the tone of her voice. That was not what he had been expecting at all. He had been trying to figure out for the longest how she had gotten the lacrima. Why she had stopped using her magic for a couple of years. Now she was coming open about it and he didn't know what to say.

"I had taken a job near Shirotsume," she started, "Tessa was with me when it happened. It was to take a couple of bandits down. The jobs we would take were scarce—it's not like we were affiliated with a guild. I was too stupid to realize it had been a trap, and when I did, it was too late."

He hadn't felt himself move, but now he was just a few feet away from her, "What happened?"

She laughed bitterly, "They took us down like if we were nothing. They took us to some caves and my aunt was there. When I was ten years old is when she put the lacrima in me. I remember my uncle wanting to be master of the guild he was part of, but he didn't want any of his family being weak. I was born with no magic. What I can remember as a kid, I was constantly beaten to make my magic surface, but nothing. She forcefully put the lacrima in my chest. Constant pain for three years until I met Tessa. I didn't know what I was doing with my new power. But she helped me understand it better.

I was sixteen years old when I saw her again. She was furious. She wanted me to go back but I refused. They had placed some bracelets, cancelling our magic. The moment I refused, she stabbed Tessa on her stomach.

B-blood was everywhere… she asked me again and Tessa told me to not agree to go back… she dug the knife deeper and I just snapped."

Tears were streaming down her face by this point, "I snapped. This new strength enveloped me while Tessa was screaming. I ripped the magic bracelets off and I killed every single person in there, except for Tessa. I ripped Marcea's throat out and electrocuted her body until she was just burnt completely. I remember the smell of smoke, electricity, blood. What snapped me out of it was hearing my cousin screaming at me for killing her mom.

I passed out. Apparently the caves crumbled and Tessa had saved my cousin, but then she had us leave immediately. To this day, I don't know how she did it since she was hurt. She told me that the dragon in me, in my lacrima, reacted to the smell of her blood since I considered her my pack. The stench of blood was in my hands for so long…

That's when I vowed to never use my thunder ever again. I didn't want to kill her. I had forgiven her… I just hated her and didn't want to see her again. I had no childhood thanks to her. I hated that she gave me this magic. But I didn't want to kill her… so I stopped using it altogether."

"Until you came to Magnolia," Laxus said quietly. If one word could describe how he felt in that moment, it was shitty.

He felt like the biggest piece of shit. Here was a woman in front of him, who possibly had the most fucked up childhood and instead looking for revenge, she forgave the person that did the most damage to her. What about him? He had no clue what came of his mother. He was a sick child and his father constantly called him weak and useless. But in his childhood he had one person always picking him up, and that was his grandfather. He taught him to be caring, to look at the brighter side of things. He never called him weak. When the lacrima had been implanted on him, his grandfather was there by his side. But the older he grew, the words of his father had gotten to him. When his father was expelled, he wanted to hate the old man with all his might but he couldn't. Everyone only saw him as 'Makarov's Grandson.' Never as his own person.

Was this what his grandfather meant when he said that he needed to get stronger?

He placed a hand on her shoulder and she instantly froze.

"It's not your fault what happened. At the end it was her choices that caused her death. She didn't give you proper training, didn't teach you what you needed to know. Just wanted to use you. Her death is in her own hands, not yours." He said, his voice surprisingly soft yet strong.

"Only a strong person can handle the power of a dragon lacrima. You _did_ have magic within you for the lacrima to be accepted by your body. You're not weak. You were able to knock me out," he slightly chuckled at the memory.

She wiped the tears off her face as she turned to him and smiled, "That definitely goes into one of my favorite memories."

He was grateful to see her in better spirits and smiled back at her. He removed his hand from her shoulder and let it fall to his side. They stayed in comfortable silence for a few minutes, both enjoying the view of the sky slightly changing colors signaling the beginning of the twilight hour.

"You shouldn't be afraid to go back to the guild. I'll be next to you."

His eyes widened at her remark and when he turned to look at her, she was already looking at him again.

"You're not the only one that's going to feel like an outsider."

* * *

"Stupid lacrima, stupid Oracion Seis, stupid cliff," Tessa grumbled from her place on Gray's back. Her clothes were torn in various places and she had a couple of burns from the blast.

Gray tried fighting his grin as he heard her talking, glad to see that she was okay after the heart attack she gave him.

She had been quick enough to cover her whole body in glass when the blast went off and make a small shield for the rest of them. But no one was expecting for the entire cliff to collapse from the impact. While they were passed out, Nirvana had been activated. The could see in the distance a powerful cylinder of magic that reached the heavens. It's glow was immense, as swirls of what it could only be dark magic wrapping themselves around it making a beautiful contrast with the sun setting.

The four of them decided to go towards it, knowing well the rest of their comrades were bound to start making their way there as well.

Gray had finally put her down after she insisted that she was fine to walk on her own. She looked down at her appearance and pouted.

 _These were my favorite boots too!_ She thought angrily.

Her head snapped up the moment her nose caught the scent of burnt firewood and strawberry.

"Natsu and Lucy are near."

The other three looked relieved at the sound of that. When they finally found them, Tessa blinked a couple of times.

"Why are you guys matching?"

Lucy blushed instantly, but before she could reply, Gray interrupted.

"Where is Erza and Wendy?"

Natsu then went on an explanation on how the young dragon slayer had healed Jellal, how Erza took off the moment she was healed, and finally Lucy's fight against Angel.

Gray ran a hand through his hair, "And of course Erza is in the middle of that thing."

Suddenly, the ground started shaking like a powerful earthquake. The ground started shifting, breaking apart almost making all of them fall. Lucy started to freak out, but Tessa got a hold of her hand.

"I got you!"

The earthquake intensified when something started coming forth from the ground. It was gigantic in form. Almost reminding them of an octopus in a way. The legs seemed to go for dozens of miles, making the enormous dome stand far away from the ground.

"That's Nirvana," Lyone whispered as he looked at the monstrosity in front of them.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am ready to go up there and finish this!" Natsu excitedly said.

And without another word, the fire dragon slayer took off running. Tessa, Lucy, and Gray grinned at each other and took off after him as well. Their bloods were pumping as they knew the danger that was up ahead. But their fear didn't matter, they knew they needed to stop it.

However, as they were reaching the top of a giant leg, the whole thing started moving. Tessa could feel her stomach making flips and she started to sweat. Natsu was in worse shape than she was.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Lucy said as she was hanging on through the gaps of the leg, holding on as it was moving.

"This is the worst time for you two to get sick!"

 _It's not a vehicle—It's not a vehicle!_ Tessa kept thinking to herself over and over. It seemed to work more for her than Natsu, who ended up falling into his death until Happy appeared and saved him. They decided to go on ahead and that they would eventually catch up. They finally reached a tunnel made out of stone. Tessa was almost ghost white but she kept on going.

"You should've gone with Natsu,"Lucy said worriedly as she looked at her. She could see the dark circles forming under her green eyes and she was sweating.

"N-no. I can do this. I can't let my motion sickness getting the best of me."

Once they made themselves through the tunnel, their blood froze as they saw what was in front of them. It looked like it was an abandoned city. They walked for various minutes until eventually they met with Jura and one of the Oracion Seis, Hoteye. They went to explain the effect that Nirvana's magic could cause.

It had the power to change the mentality of someone evil that had doubts regarding their action, but it could also change a good person into evil if they were to be defeated by their own negative thoughts. They talked for a while until Midnight, one of the Oracion Seis appeared. The darkness she could feel from him almost made Tessa feel more sick. His eyes were red—very similar to Gajeel's. But they lacked a lot of emotions she was used to seeing. It didn't help the way he had make up on, making him even creepier.

Tessa could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up the moment he spoke. She was growling as her green eyes were narrowed. Midnight attacked, but before she could do something, she felt the ground beneath her shift. She landed on top of Lucy and Gray was on top of her.

"Leave him to me! All of the Oracion Seis—our power is equal! Oh yeah!" Hoteye said.

They didn't have much choice but to leave. Tessa felt wrong by leaving him. There had been something off with Midnight and she didn't like it.

They ran through the scrumbles of the street when a huge explosion was seen not far away from them.

"That is definitely the pyro," Tessa said dryly.

"We should hurry—he may need our help!"

"Leave it to Natsu to make things explode."

At certain points they needed to stop since Tessa could feel getting worse, so she needed a few minutes to recover and then continue. They weren't far away from the fire blast anymore until they heard a powerful scream.

Her eyes widened at the sound. It was almost the exact same replica of a dragon roar.

She could barely catch his scent, so she was able to lead the others towards the direction of where Natsu was. They found him, but he was being dragged by his shirt by the leader of the Oracion Seis, Brain.

Happy was imploring from his spot on the ground in a weak voice for them to save Natsu. His motion sickness was growing worse as he couldn't remove Brain's hand from his shirt.

Brain's voice was deep and gruff, as he explained how he would use Natsu to fortify his own guild.

"Like he would actually help you!" Lucy said angrily.

Natsu ended up biting Brain on the arm but was knocked over with ease like if he were a fly. He groaned on the floor and begged him to help him. Tessa ran forward and unleashed her lance, trying to slice at Brain who quickly blocked it with his own staff. She tried rolling out of the way when he raised his fist, but she was far too slow due to her motion sickness. He blasted her, sending her back to the others, her whole side scraping on the rough surface. Lucy fretted over her as she groaned.

"If you weaklings think you can stop Nirvana, you better do so quickly!" He laughed maniacally, "Soon we will be reaching Nirvana's first destination to cover with darkness. The Cait Shelter!"

Tessa's eyes opened wide, _Wendy's guild!  
_  
She was about to bring out all of her magic in to attack Brain again, but this time Jura stepped forward. His yellow aura was visible and all of them could feel his power coming forth. Brain yelled for them to kneel as he attacked, but Jura acted quickly. Using his own magic, he deflected Brain's attack with boulders, creating a major explosion where the wind blew wildly.

 _The power of a wizard saint!  
_  
The battle between the two older men continued with ferocious force. Brain had been capable of getting through Jura's iron rock walls, but Jura always seemed to be two steps ahead. He wasn't giving Brain a chance to catch a quick breather. The wizard saint used the rocks at his own will, bending them in imaginable shapes like if they were nothing. He was serious as he continued attacking the leader of the Oracion Seis.

Tessa turned to Gray and told him that they needed to move Natsu out of the way. The pyro couldn't get up and various times he was almost hit by the other two wizard's attacks. Jura finished off Brain, leaving sprawled on the ground in shock and in pain.

As Gray came back with Natsu, Tessa heard Brain loud and clear.

"Midnight… you are our only hope."

They heard someone calling them, and Tessa felt a rush of relief to see that Wendy was alive and well.

Before they could all continue talking, Tessa looked at Wendy.

"I need you to heal me. I need to find Midnight."

Gray looked at her like if she was crazy, "I'm sure Hoteye took care of him."

Lucy agreed, "I don't think it's necessary for you to run off by yourself. Specially because even if she heals you, the city will continue making you sick as long as it keeps moving."

Wendy tilted her head adorably, "You get sick?"

Tessa groaned, "Motion sickness. Natsu gets it a lot worse than me though."

Wendy then started to heal her, completely ignoring Carla objecting in the background. She then put her hands on Tessa's head and casted a spell to maintain her balance. The blue aura covered her whole head and, in an instant, Tessa felt a whole lot better and much stronger.

She smiled brightly at the girl, "Thank you so much! When this is over, I will tell you what Grandeeney used to tell Uzume about you." With a wink at the small girl who stared at her in shock, she took off running.

"Tessa, come back!" Gray yelled at her.

"Heal Natsu and find a way to stop this thing! Brain was clearly not the key!"

She ran quickly through the streets, trying to catch Midnight's scent. She had grown worried a while after she had left when she heard a loud explosion, but knowing that Wendy was with them, she was sure that she had healed Natsu and he did something about what she had heard.

"If I was a confused and depressed child with horrible taste in makeup, where would I be?" She pondered out loud.

A loud noise followed by a cloud of smoke answered her question and ran towards that direction.

The closer she got, the stronger Erza's scent was also getting.

Her green eyes widened when she finally saw her, but she was currently tied up struggling to breathe.

"GLASS DRAGON CLAWS!" Tessa yelled as she sprung forward and slashed away the metal that had wrapped around Erza. Erza let out a breath of relief of being able to breathe properly.

"How did you find me?" She asked at the dragon slayer in surprise.

"I smelled cake and vanilla nearby!"

Erza gave her a nod and then glared back at Midnight. She used her magic and removed the armor she had been wearing, leaving her in her white sleeveless blouse and then changing into her heaven's wheel armor.

"Be careful Tessa, he uses reflective magic."

Tessa's eyes widened and then narrowed. She had heard of that magic before. Capable of being able to reflect, distort, and twist all manner of objects.

 _That explains what he did to her with her own armor,_ she thought.

Midnight snarled, "You will both meet your end!"

A rainbow-like aura started emerging forth from Tessa as she felt her muscles twitching with anticipation to unleash her magic, "We'll see about that. You are going against a dragon slayer and Titania herself. Bring it!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The fall of the Oracion Seis

She held on to her arm as her crimson blood made its way down, dripping softly on the ground. She had underestimated Midnight and she hated it. She didn't know that he also had some sort of shield around him, making it impossible for her attacks to get him. She had tried using the same technique she used against Freed's barrier but it didn't work. However, she was noticing a certain pattern he would use. He would attack one of them one by one. Sent one flying further away and attacked the other. Never both at the same time.

Erza was panting heavily by her side, now dressed in her purple robes, her knuckles going white as she gripped the hilt of her lance.

"When I say so, attack," Erza quietly said, knowing well the dragon slayer would hear her.

Her green eyes flashed, "You saw it?"

Her answer was seeing Erza flash forward and raise her lance, but Midnight intercepted it by making her robes wrap tightly against her.

"You fool! You should know by now your attacks are futile against me!"

Tessa sprinted forward at a speed she didn't know she had.

Midnight's eyes widened as he saw the attack coming to him. It was a direct hit as her glass coveredd fist contacted with his cheek, making him crash against a stone wall.

Jellal's eyes widened from his spot on the ground, "How did she do it?"

Tessa blinked twice and turned around, now barely paying attention to the man on the floor. She hadn't seen him when she first showed up. She took in his blue hair and handsome features and then looked at Erza. Memories of her night talks with Lucy flashed in her head on who Jellal was. However, the man on the ground being worried about Erza was nothing like the monster that Lucy had described.

"Is that your boyfriend? Jellal right?"

Both parties started blushing and panicking at the same time.

"Don't be absurd! T-that's not my boyfriend."

Tessa gave her a smug look but as she was going to say something, Midnight interrupted her, his voice barely controlling his anger.

"How did you figure it out?"

Erza got rid of her embarrassment and smirked at him, "Your magic can only do so much. You only fight one of us at a time, knowing well that if we both attacked you at the same time, you would not be able to defend yourself."

Tessa created a glass longsword and threw it at him. He barely moved his head out of the way.

"You can only control one object at a time, not a person. You're still focused on keeping Erza wrapped that your only choice right now is to dodge my attacks instead of bending my weapons to your will!"

She created another longsword and jumped at him. He let go of Erza and started deflecting Tessa's magic, but then Erza started attacking as well.

Jellal's eyes widened at the synchronization of both women. In his eyes, they were in perfect sync, something he had never seen before. He had never seen another mage being able to be at Erza's speed and level of precision with a weapon.

Midnight was growing desperate when he suddenly started cackling loudly and hysterically. Both women stopped mid attack, looking at each other in confusion.

"Should have killed me when you had the chance instead of punching me girl. Now you will meet your doom!"

His eyes flashed as the echo of a clock started ringing everywhere. It was loud and ominous, making Tessa's ears hurt by the sound.

"The clock is striking midnight," Erza said from her side.

The ground beneath them went from a brown-gray tone to a crimson red. Shadows grew bigger around them and everything went dark. A chill went down their spine when they saw Midnight's body convulsing and shifting. They could hear flesh tearing and bones popping. It was sickening. He kept growing in size until he was about thirty feet high. His eyes were round and red, his mouth huge with fangs protruding out in different directions.

His voice was harsher and low almost in a growl, " _I would love to see how you fools deal against your own nightmares_."

Tessa's vision changed. In front of her, she could see a group of bandits and a woman standing over a tied slender figure. She immediately recognized the silver hair on the person. Her eyes widened as he took her back to what Aria had done.

When Aria asked her to tell her what had happened in detail, Tessa had to censor it as much as she could. Her version was clean compared to what had happened.

The familiar scent of blood was making her dizzy and her ears were ringing at the sound of bodies being electrocuted and limbs being torn apart. The screams. The blood curdling screams… she could still hear them.

 _Your friend almost killed you…_

She saw Aria's golden eyes glazed over staring at her, her blue scales coming out more and her fangs growing as she growled at her.

 _You had to push the knife deeper in you for her to snap out of it._

 _Is that the kind of friend you want to have?_

 _The kind that will turn to you at any moment?_

 _She will kill you one day. Maybe you should kill her first._

She was on her knees holding her head and crying. Her eyes were tight shut as her whole body shook in fear.

 _She's weak._

 _You are weak._

 _She's not coming back._

 _She abandoned you how Uzume abandoned you._

Something inside Tessa snapped. Her eyes snapped open and her body stopped shaking.

 _No…_

 _You are so wrong…_

Silence fell over as a pulsing sound came out of her body, like a heartbeat. It was slow and Midnight's demonic body stopped tormenting Erza and turned to her. Erza's eyes widened as she could feel the magic energy from Tessa growing rapidly.

Rainbow aura covered her entire body, like a glowing piece of glass. Her long hair had come loose during the fight and it was over her shoulders covering her face.

When she looked up, gray scales covered her forehead down to her nose. Her eyes were no longer green, but a beautiful glistening fuschia.

A beautiful long staff with a star in the middle made of glass appeared on her right hand. She took a deep breath as she stabbed the staff on the ground and the wind blew around her.

" _Glass Dragon Diamond Shower!"_

A gigantic flash of rainbow colors came out from her staff and directly went towards Midnight. The moment that it made impact, the horrible illusions and his demonic form disappeared instantly as pieces of rainbow glass flew everywhere. Midnight fell on his back, shaking uncontrollably as his illusion was obliterated.

"H-ho-w… I-impossible!"

Tessa panted as her scales disappeared, "I should have added earlier that I'm a glass dragon slayer. I deflected your illusion."

Before she could fall face first, she felt someone grabbing her waist and supported her weight. She was sweating as she gratefully smiled at Jellal. Erza's eyes were wide in shock, but her look instantly turned into pride.

"The Oracion Seis misunderstood the power us Fairy Tail wizards have— or any other of the mages that came forth to stop you. You took us for granted and for that, you all have fallen."

* * *

She started to slightly shake. After they had talked, he had gotten tired of the mood that her story had laid on them. He felt off seeing her with the somber look in her eyes. She made him a bit better about going back to the guild and he felt he needed to help her get better as well.

So, he resorted on picking her up and throwing her back in the lake in a giant splash. When she emerged from the water, she was coughing uncontrollably since she had swallowed some of it. She glared at him, her face flushed with annoyance, but before she could say something, he had jumped right in again. He was being playful, stalking her like if she was a prey.

She wasn't an idiot, she knew what he was trying to accomplish and in all honesty, he was being successful. After a couple more hours of mindless fights in the water, they finally came out. The moon was at its highest point, indicating that it was midnight already.

Her entire body was shaking the moment she felt the cool air hit her body. She wrapped her arms around herself in attempt to put some warmth in her arms. She let out a surprised sound when he placed his long coat on her shoulders.

"I can hear your teeth chattering. The last I need is for you to get pneumonia or something."

She blushed at his comment, "Sometimes I really want to punch you."

He rolled his eyes, "You can try. It doesn't mean you will land it."

He heard her shifting her leg and saw it coming. She threw a roundhouse kick, the coat falling off her shoulders, and a right hook at him. He dodged her leg and easily grabbed her fist, twisting her arm and bringing her back into his chest while his other arm got her on the neck.

"Your anger either helps you or it makes you sloppy. There's no in between with you."

She struggled against his grip but it was on use. His grip was like iron and she could feel the heat off his body as his chest and abs were pressed against her bare back. An idea came to mind, and she knew it was a dirty move, but surprising your opponent to win was often necessary.

She stopped struggling and instead, she used her free hand to gently caress his forearm that was on her neck. She put her back even closer to him, her ass moving in the smallest grind.

"How did you know I liked being choked?" her voice was low and soft.

His gray eyes widened as he felt blood rushing to his cheeks.

She heard him inhale sharply and she smirked. She stomped on his foot as hard as she could and as soon as he let go of her arm from behind her, she gripped his forearm and flipped him over, the impact knocking the air out of him. When he opened his eyes groaning, he could see her golden eyes staring at him with a smug look on her face.

"Can't believe you fell for that Sparky."

He rolled his eyes, "What-fucking-ever. Are you going to help me up or no?"

She shook her head at him and as she stretched her hand at him. She saw a glint in his eye but before she could retract her hand, he had grasped it and pulled her down. After some wrestling on the ground, he had pinned her down, both of her arms over her head and her legs were hooked to his, leaving her completely immobile.

Seconds seemed to slowly go by as they just stared into each other's eyes. He leaned forward, his lips hovering over hers.

She knew she was blushing and her heart was pounding in her ears. Her mind seemed to panic the moment he started getting closer and her heart skipped a beat as she felt the hotness of his breath right on her lips. She closed her eyes but a certain voice on her ear snapped her out of it.

"I win."

He smirked at her, let her go, and he got up and walked away towards their camp. However, both parties had the same thought.

 _What the fuck was that?!_

* * *

They didn't get far since both Jellal and Tessa were drained from magic. Erza fretted over them, insisting for both parties to get some rest. Neither of them wanted to stop. Tessa was expecting for Nirvana to stop moving since they had defeated all of the Oracion Seis members, but the giant abandoned city still followed its course to the Cait Shelter. Erza quickly explained to her regarding Jellal's loss of memory, Tessa now understanding why the man was so different than what she was told.

Wendy eventually found them, her eyes shining the moment she saw them, specially Jellal, but her face grew in disappointment by knowing that the man in front of her did not know who she was. They talked for a couple of moments when the ground started shaking under them. At the front of Nirvana, they could see a powerful aura swirling around it. The magic energy kept growing with every second of it as it was powering it up.

Tessa's face drained from color, "Oh no…"

"It's preparing to strike!" Carla exclaimed.

They ran towards the front of Nirvana to see the magical canon preparing to fire. In the distance, they could see small houses that could only mean that it had reached its destination. The light and magic power was incredible, making them shake since they knew there was no way to stop such an attack. The power grew and the ground shook more viciously. Tessa grabbed a hold of Wendy and held her against her, trying to hide the horrific view of her guild being torn apart by the blast. Wendy screamed as Nirvana fired, and all they could do was watch the powerful blast shooting to destroy the guild.

However, luck seemed to be by their side. A shot of magic energy shot from the sky and it stroke Nirvana right on one of its legs, making it falter and missing the village by basically a hair.

They all looked up as a shadow covered them and Erza's eyes widened.

"No way!"

"It's Cristina!" Tessa exclaimed happily as she held Wendy tightly in excitement. The young girl stared in shock at the magical machine in form of a Pegasus floated right on top of them. She could feel her heart going back to normal as relief washed over her in waves, tears falling down her rosy cheeks.

 _Do you read me? Someone, anyone! Is everyone ok?!_

Erza smiled brightly, "That's Hibiki!"

 _Erza, Wendy, Tessa, and Carla! Glad to know you are all alive!_

Lyon, Sherry, Ren, Hibiki, and Eve had all worked together to put what they could back together for Cristina to be able to fly again and work properly, however, it was draining their already low magic power rapidly.

 _I found the answer we needed on the archive on how to stop Nirvana. Each appendage that we thought that were legs are pipes. They're absorbing the magic energy from the ground in order to keep Nirvana moving and being able to fire its cannon. There are lacrimas placed at the top of each pipe. You destroy the lacrimas, Nirvana will fall. They have to be destroyed at once, if not the other five will repair the one that was destroyed._

"How are we going to destroy them at the same time? That's insane!" Tessa exclaimed at Hibiki.

 _If I had enough strength I would keep the telepathy open. I can give you all a precised timer._

They all could feel the information being implanted in their minds, but their eyes widened at the amount of time they would only have. Just twenty minutes.

 _After twenty minutes, Nirvana will strike again._

 _That is quite the plan you fools are making…_ a chilling voice said through the link. Everyone turned around, trying to figure out if they could see the source of the voice.

 _I am Zero, master of the Oracion Seis. Brain is no more. You all will fail. You light dwellers will see everything that you hold dear to you be destroyed to the ground! I already destroyed three of your little friends. A dragon slayer, an iced wizard, a celestial wizard and a cat. There is nothing left for you._

Tessa felt her heart heavily drop to her stomach, almost making her sick.

 _No… Lucy… Natsu… Happy… Gray!_

 _Good luck with your plan, as I'm currently standing over one of the lacrimas myself!_

The link was abruptly cut off and panic overwhelmed them.

"Even if we go, we basically have no magic left. Erza is the only one capable to go against Zero if anything," Tessa said worriedly. Jellal agreed with her, "There's one in a sixth chance one of us will run into him."

Carla moved her paws in panic, "We don't even have enough wizards!"

Wendy started to cry, "I'm not a fighter. I'd be useless."

"Three of us, who else is still standing?" Erza said loudly.

 _Oh my darling! You can count on me!... Although I'm currently tied up. Maaan…_

"Even just hearing his voice he gives me the creeps," Tessa said dryly.

 _That makes four of you—we need two more!_ Hibiki tiredly said through the link again.

Cristina started to loose altitude as the wizards in it ran out of magic. They could only helplessly watch as the winged bomber flew down to the ground.

 _You guys need to get up!_ Tessa cried out in her mind.

 _Natsu!_

 _Gray!_

 _You dumb bimbo… Lucy, get up!_

 _Come on tom cat!_

 _I haven't been here for long, but I know Fairy Tail wizards don't fall easily,_ tears went down Tessa's face, _We fairies soar to the heavens! Please, say something! We need you all!_

Seconds seemed to pass when they barely could hear his voice.

 _Yeah… We hear you all…_

 _Destroy… all six… lacrimas… at once…_

 _Hey guys! Ugh… so who's fighting Zero?... we need to get back at him… right boys?_

 _T-there's only eighteen minutes left… we must hurry!_

 _My telepathy is about to give out… I uploaded a map into your heads… each lacrima it's numbered…_

Each one of them picked a number. Natsu took one, Gray two, Lucy three, Ichiya four, Erza five. Tessa was going to offer to go on three to help Lucy who was badly injured so Jellal could take the last one, however Erza interrupted saying Tessa would take the last one.

The two of them looked at her confused, until she explained that Natsu still didn't know about Jellal's situation and still saw him as the enemy. The last thing they needed was for the two of them to fight. The connection cut off and they winced as they finally could hear Cristina crash. However, they knew the others would be ok.

"Let's go everyone!"

* * *

She tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, but she could not find a comfortable position to sleep in.

Or more like her mind was going through a hundred thoughts per minute.

What had started off as a little power game, turned into her head and heart thinking otherwise.

She kept replaying the feel of his muscles against her back. The way he looked at her as he was on top of her.

The way his lips hovered over hers…

She felt disgusted at herself. Tessa could be dead for all she knew and here she was, pondering about a certain dragon slayer. She hit herself with her own pillow. She couldn't deny that the slayer was good looking. For crying out loud, the man was practically carved in solid muscle.

His personality is what drew her back. She had dealt with men like him before. Cocky. Arrogant. Selfish. Most likely has slept with multiple women.

A tiny voice in the back of her head pointed out that he had been changing. And it was true. Compared to how he was a month ago, he had changed. Not by much however. Those traits were still there, but the arrogance that he saw himself as the 'god' of Fairy Tail was gone and he was becoming a bit more humble. He had taught her many moves and helped her control the magic within her. He made her reach limits she didn't know she had. He had made her understand the powerful magic within her.

She growled at herself and decided to leave her tent. The only thing that could help her right now was to meditate and she was going to do that. Far away from the camp.

He heard her footsteps fading away against the dirt and he let out a heavy sigh. He ran a hand through his face and sighed in frustration. All he kept seeing when he closed his eyes was the way her curves had leaned against him, her eyes, and her lips.

He had practically been living with the woman for a month, how come until now he was noticing that she was beautiful?

She was nothing compared to the other women he had met. She wasn't tall—she barely reached his chest. She did not have big boobs like the rest of the women he was used to. Her hips were not as wide either. She wasn't skinny. She wasn't after him for his power, because of his name, because of his money. She was witty, sarcastic, cursed like a sailor, and rough around the edges. Her body was built for fighting, the right amount of muscles in the right places. Her hair wasn't straight and long, but wavy and medium length.

She was not his type at all, but here he was pathetically thinking about her.

He left his tent and went straight towards the lake again, hoping that the freezing water would snap him out of ridiculous thoughts.

* * *

Lucy panted heavily as she leaned against the stone walls for support as she made her way to lacrima number three. Her legs were shaking and all of her cuts were painful with each step she took. Some of them stung badly that a few times she needed to stop. Happy insisted for her to properly sit down, but she wouldn't listen.

"Lucy! Wait up!"

Her chocolate brown eyes shot up at the voice and slowly turned around.

"Tessa?"

Tessa came out of the shadows, battered with a bloodied arm and with torn clothes as well, but a smile was placed on her face.

"Thought you could use some help."

"I thought you were taking care of the last lacrima?"

Tessa nervously chuckled, "Don't worry, it's taken cared of." She went up to the blonde, putting

an arm over her shoulders to help her walk better and faster.

"Let's destroy this together."

Lucy grinned at her, "I can feel that it's near!"

A few more minutes seemed to pass until they finally reached the chamber where a huge gray lacrima laid. The power omitting from it was incredible. Lucy fell to her knees, bringing Tessa down with her. The blonde girl started crying as she stared at the lacrima.

"You can do it Tessa… I have no magic left… I'm not strong enough."

Tessa shook her head, "Stop thinking that way. I said we were going to do this together and that is exactly what we are going to do. You've come so far Lucy. Look at everything you have accomplished. Do this for everyone."

She slowly nodded, "I have to do this for Wendy's guild…"

"That's the spirit!"

"We only have three minutes left!" Happy exclaimed worriedly.

"How do you want to do this?" Tessa asked her friend. Lucy looked at the massive lacrima.

"By this point, freaking throw me. Just anything to help you destroy it."

 _That's what I wanted to do since I can barely feel any magic,_ Tessa thought to herself.

"We have always admired you Ms. Lucy!" Two high pitch voices combined said. Both girls whirled around to see two tiny blue spirits standing in front of them, praising Lucy for her heart and strength she possessed.

"That's gemini!"

 _Oh my—they're so adorable! I wanna grab one and squish it!_ Tessa excitedly thought to herself. Gemini then turned into Lucy, making both girls jump.

"When we copied you, it wasn't just for looks. We have your abilities as well and we can do the job with the dragon slayer if you want us! Pri! Pri!"

The clock started ticking, both women preparing in front of the lacrima.

"Is it alright if I use Taurus?" Gemini asked Lucy, who nodded, "Whoever you need!"

Tessa closed her eyes as she tried putting together all the magic she had left. It wasn't much, but with what she had and the spirit it should be enough to bring down the lacrima. They got into their positions, with Lucy and Happy standing back at a safe distance.

Both Lucys called out Taurus, the bull spirit appearing with his axe, ready for action.

 _Aria… I could use some of your strength right now…_

Silence and then…

 _Tessa? What's wrong?_

 _Kind of limited in time right now, I'll explain later._

 _We haven't practiced the spell before. I was too unstable. Even now I don't think I can—_

 _I know you can… please… we will be doomed…!_

Aria bit her lip as she sat with her legs crossed in the clearing. She had been meditating when Tessa had used their link. She was surprised since they were nowhere near each other.

However, it could possibly be thanks to the blood link spell they had done after a year traveling with each other. She was nervous, but by the weakness in Tessa's voice, she was exhausted and desperate.

She took a deep breath as she brought forth her own magic, her blue thick lightning thundering around her as she stood up.

 _Mighty Dragon_

 _Thunder my anger_

 _Lightning my might_

 _Bring to me clouds,_

 _Black as night_

Tessa could hear Gemini preparing to order Taurus to attack.

 _Oh thy thunder_

 _Come to me now_

 _To use my glass_

 _To light the dark!_

Taurus jumped up, bringing its massive axe down on the lacrima which started to crack in half. The clock was on five seconds when Tessa put her hands together as blue thick lightning crashed onto her form, making everyone in the room jump away and cover their eyes by the brightness. The lightning materialized inside a glass arrow in her hands. The blue lightning was dancing around the arrow, the thundering sound echoing in the chamber.

With all her strength, she threw the arrow right where Taurus had cracked the lacrima. The thick lightning on the tail of the arrow took form of a massive dragon that it looked like it was roaring. The moment of impact, all the magic within the arrow surfaced, engulfing the lacrima and making it explode, the thunder sounding louder as various pieces of glass from the arrow flew away.

Tessa fell to her knees as she smiled with tears falling down her eyes. Lucy jumped on her back, laughing as she cried as well.

They had done it. And from the sounds of it, so did the others.

* * *

Aria panted as she had fallen to her knees. She could feel blood coming out of her nose but she was smiling. The spell had worked. She could feel it. Whatever Tessa was dealing with—it should not have survived a blast from the two slayers like that.

She tried getting up, but she found herself wavering but before her face could smack against the cool grass, she felt his arm wrapping around her and picking her up. Her vision was growing blurry, but she didn't care. This was what she needed to prove to herself and to others that she had control of her magic. Channeling magic through a blood bond was extremely dangerous, often killing the casters of it.

But they had been able to cast the spell perfectly.

"Why are you wet?" She found herself asking as she leaned into his shoulder as an overwhelming feel to sleep took over her.

"I was at the lake."

She laughed, but as she drifted into sleep, he heard her.

"I wonder what you were thinking for you to take a cold bath…"

* * *

Escaping Nirvana as it was crumbling down had been rather terrifying. Major pieces of stone kept falling everywhere, sometimes barely missing them. The ground kept breaking underneath them and multiple times Lucy and Tessa had to help each other back up. If it hadn't been for her spirit, the talking clock as Tessa called it, they would have been crushed.

Whatever spell Wendy had used on Tessa, it started fading away since being inside the massive clock was making her dizzy and seeing double.

Both girls slowly stepped out when the clock landed in solid ground, Lucy thanking immensely Horologium for his fast thinking of using his own power to come to the human world. As Tessa turned around once she started breathing the cool air and she wasn't moving, she went green the moment she saw Ichiya in a massive stud form.

"I feel like I'm back in Midnight's nightmares," the young woman whimpered as Ichiya kept going around her, _inhaling_ her scent. Gray quickly went up to her, enveloping her in a hug, whispering in her ear how happy he was to know she was safe. The young woman blushed but smiled at him as he pulled away. He then went to Lucy and hugged her as well.

Wendy's voice made everyone turn around. They were relieved that the young dragon slayer was safe with her partner and grateful to see Jura back up on his feet. Lucy had filled Tessa in how Jura had saved her and the others when Tessa had gone off to look for Midnight.

Everyone looked around, in hopes to see Natsu and Jellal.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he got lost in the woods," Gray commented as some of the girls called out their names.

Tessa snorted, knowing well that Gray could possibly be right. However her snort turned into full laughter when she saw Happy being flown away as the ground underneath him rose up. From the dirt, Hoteye emerged with both Natsu and an unconscious Jellal.

However, their happy reunion was cut short when Ichiya slammed into an enchantment wall.

Panic rose within the group, wondering who could cast it.

"Tessa, can you break this?" Natsu asked by her side as he slammed his fists against it.

She shook her head, "Even if I had all of my magic right now—this is differen't than Freed's."

"She's right, this is a lot more powerful." Gray added in.

Eventually, they were surrounded by various soldiers in white robes with spears and lances. A man in the ranks stepped forward. He was tall with glasses, and his voice rather vigorous.

"I am the new captain of the Magic Council's Fourth Custody Enforcement Unit, Lahar."

Tessa made a face, "Talk about a mouthful."

Erza stepped forward, "What is the meaning of this?"

"I have been ordered to take the Oracion Seis into custody. I ask that you cooperate and hand over the man named Hoteye."

A lot of them complained, but Hoteye insisted that it was necessary for him to make amends for his wrongdoings to have a clean plate. As they placed the cuffs on Hoteye, Lahar explained that he wasn't the only one they were there for.

"We are also here for the culprit that infiltrated the Magic Council and fired the Etherion Cannon. A man more villainous than the Oracion Seis. Jellal Fernandes."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Reunited

Tessa leaned against the wall of Cristina as the machine grumbled as it flew in the high skies. She welcomed the coolness of the metal against the back of her neck. Her motion sickness was making her sweat and her stomach was making various flips. She could've asked Wendy for help regarding that, but the young girl was still in a lot of distress.

She thought about the events of the last week, and she's got to admit, her and Aria never had that much excitement during their travels. Having to defeat the Oracion Seis with Natsu and the others had been a huge accomplishment. But no one was prepared for the Council Army to show up and take away Hoteye and Jellal.

She still remembered everything so vividly even with her head hurting so badly.

They had all been willing to fight the army to stop them from taking Jellal. Natsu had been the first one to react then followed by everyone else. Erza was the one that stopped the whole thing. That was something Tessa didn't see coming at all. She could smell the unshed tears from the requip mage and it broke her heart. She wasn't there when the whole issue with Jellal and the Tower of Heaven. Anything she knew about the incident that she knew of was thanks to Lucy and the bits and pieces that Erza told her. But regardless of everything, Tessa could see right through it. She could see the eagerness and the desire from Erza that she wanted to go after Jellal. She could see the mage's heart tearing into small pieces as he was put inside the carriage.

Erza had disappeared soon after Jellal was taken away, which was no surprise. The redhead needed time to recover. Jellal had been fighting the darkness for so many years, that now that he was able to see the light, it was taken away from his just as quickly.

As Tessa looked across from her, her heart broke even more as she looked at the young sky dragon slayer.

According to Wendy, Jellal had found her soon after her dragon disappeared, and they traveled together. Eventually, he thought it was best to leave her with a guild. The Cait Shelter.

However, it turned out that the Cait Shelter had all been an illusion. They were the real Neherit people from four hundred years ago. There was one survivor, the master of the guild, and everyone else seemed to be just an illusion he created for the young girl so she would not feel alone.

Wendy was left with a broken heart, knowing that everything she lived, all the people that she had known to love, disappeared right in front of her eyes. She was left without a family, she was left without a home.

Erza had been the one to approach the broken-hearted girl to join Fairy Tail.

After that, they stayed in the deserted village to give Wendy some time to cope and for their wounds to heal more. They all had refused to ask the young mage for her healing powers, since her heart was still healing.

Now they were on their way back to Magnolia. She was exhausted. She wanted to sleep on her own bed, hopefully get a hold of Aria, and tell Gajeel everything what they had gone through. She had missed the late night sparring sessions with the iron slayer and occasionally their talks when he actually felt like talking.

The way her muscles were sore, she felt like they had been fighting the Oracion Seis for days, but in reality it didn't even last two full days. She could still feel her arm throbbing at times from where Midnight had sliced it.

She was looking forward to being back home.

It seemed that everyone in the guild had gotten back from a job. The entire guild was full and all eyes turned on the team the moment the doors were opened. Excited shouts were instantly thrown at them. The cheering was like thunder, making the guild's windows shake.

Wendy was instantly overwhelmed. There were so many wizards—probably twice the size that she had seen at her old guild, even if they had been an illusion.

It didn't take long for all of them to notice the blue haired girl and questions quickly arose. She blushed as all the attention turned to her, but Tessa's hand on her shoulder gave her the courage to not turn around and run. She was grateful for the woman. She had been there for her while her heart was healing, and even more grateful by the stories Tessa told her about her dragon.

Erza explained to everyone how she would join Fairy Tail and everyone cheered at that.

Drinks and food were brought out as Makarov explained that a party was necessary to welcome their new member.

Eventually, a hushed silence fell all around the guild when Wendy told someone she was a sky dragon slayer. Tessa had been at the bar sitting next to Gajeel with Mira serving them drinks and her eyes were intently watching the young girl. Wendy thought that was something she wasn't supposed to say, but the news of her being a dragon slayer brought up a bigger excited uproar.

Gajeel was chewing a piece of iron when he raised his pierced eyebrow, "Wasn't expecting that."

She gave him a look, "Her scent is quite noticeable."

"Salamander's stench kind of covers the entire guild."

Tessa started choking on her drink instantly. He awkwardly patted her back and she smiled.

Gray saw where Tessa was at and approached her, a smirk on his face.

"Hey Tessa, why don't you come and join us for a drinking game Cana knows?"

Tessa blinked as she looked at Gray and the drink she had in her hand. She could hear the small growling sound coming from Gajeel and she almost wanted to laugh out loud. She raised her glass at Gray and smiled.

"I'm ok Gray. I wouldn't stand a chance against Cana anyways."

He looked at her and then at Gajeel for a second, "Alright, well we'll be over there if you change your mind."

She smiled at him and watched him walk away. Gajeel shot her a look, "Why didn't you go?"

She grinned as she took a sip of her drink, "I spent a whole week with them basically. Besides, I feel more comfortable drinking here."

His red eyes widened slightly but then smirked. Mira had a knowing look on her face but decided to not say anything about that.

"Fairy Tail is in total going to have six dragon slayers total once Aria and Laxus come back." Mira said from behind them as she cleaned a cup, a happy smile on her face as she saw the party continuing to unfold.

Tessa's eyes widened as she turned her stool around and looked at Mira, "Have you heard from her?"

Mira grinned, "She called in a few days ago. I confirmed to her that the team had successfully defeated the Oracion Seis. She didn't say anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were to show up soon."

Gajeel could only chuckle as the woman next to him practically started glowing at the thought of her best friend coming back to Fairy Tail too.

"Master gave everyone a talk after Aria hung up," Mira continued, "Told all of us that he understood if we were still angry for what Laxus did, but that it was prohibited attacking him to seek revenge."

Gajeel snorted, "Old man probably wants to give him a piece of mind himself."

Tessa wanted to say otherwise but she knew Gajeel was right. Makarov was a fair guild master, but when angry the old man was quite terrifying.

She saw the way his eyes kept shifting from Happy and Carla and couldn't help but ask, "Why are you glaring at the cats?"

He scoffed but didn't say anything and went back to eating his metal snacks.

The party continued lively throughout the day. Cana was already in her fifth barrel even after winning the drinking game how it was expected, with various guild members wondering how she was still alive yet. Tessa told Gajeel everything. About the battles, what she had to do. He didn't say anything as he ate his bowl of iron pieces and drinking but she knew he was listening to her and that made her happy. A few times he had made comments, brightening her mood even more.

He was impressed on how their sparring sessions had come in handy to her. He had been worried since he knew the Oracion Seis were vicious. But she had been able to take on Racer and Midnight. Granted with the help of others, but still. He had heard the power that Midnight's nightmares held, and the fact that she had been able to accomplish on getting out of it was something to be impressed about and only someone strong enough could get out of them.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard from outside the guild. Tessa, Natsu, and Gajeel instantly turned around and stared at the doors. Others started asking what was going on when they soon felt it. Muffled yelling could be heard from the other side of the door and everyone stayed silent trying to make out what was being said.

" _Next time—fucking warn me if you're going to zap us somewhere!"_

The guild doors were then opened and two figures slowly came in. The guild was filled with a hushed silence as they stared at them.

Tessa got off her stool and started approaching them, "Aria?"

The golden eyed girl smirked at her, "Good to see you're in one piece."

Tessa smiled and sprinted forward, tackling the other girl and both crashing to the ground. The former members of the Thunder Legion did the same and tackled their former leader. The rest of the guild watched in silence, surprised that the two dragon slayers had come back. Some were still weary as they looked at Laxus, memories of what he did replaying on their heads again.

Makarov watched in silence as four of his children were overwhelmed with joy for having them back.

"Laxus, my office, now." Makarov said without warning. The blonde looked up and with a small smile to his team, he pushed them off and followed his grandfather to the second floor.

The rest of the guild watched quietly for a few seconds, but once they heard the doors close, every single female member rushed to Aria.

"So how was it?"

"I'm surprised he's still alive."

"What did you guys _do_?"

"Did you see him naked?"

Aria's golden eyes could only widen by each of the questions the girls were asking her. She wasn't expecting them to approach her yet, but here they were, throwing questions that were so personal and talking to her with such familiarity.

Tessa was trying to hide her smile from the laughter that wanted to spill out. She wasn't expecting it either.

"N-nothing happened!" She was blushing so bad and she just knew Laxus was hearing everything from the Master's office.

Erza finally snapped out of it and moved in between the girls and Aria, "Now now, this is not the welcome we will give to our member that came back from vigorous training. Let her relax and join the party."

Tessa wrapped an arm around Aria's shoulder, "We have a lot to catch up!"

Aria smiled when she suddenly felt it. She stopped and turned to where she could sniff the familiar scent of a dragon slayer. Her eyes widened when she realized it was coming from a young girl who was shyly staring at her.

Tessa saw where her gaze had gone, "Let me introduce you! This is Wendy, the Sky Dragon Slayer."

Wendy shyly smiled at the older girl, "Hi! It's nice to meet you. Tessa has told me a lot of things about you."

Aria tossed Tessa a look as she answered Wendy, "I hope they were good things."

"ARIA! LET'S FIGHT!" a familiar cry run throughout the guild.

Lucy facepalmed herself, "It was just a matter of time."

Aria rolled her eyes as she turned around to see Natsu in the air with a fist engulfed in flames. As he got closer, she easily dodged the attack by stepping to the side and elbowing Natsu right on his back, making him slam into the ground.

"Not today pyro."

Laughter was then heard and the party continued. It seemed that the energy, food, and alcohol grew as well. Tessa had gotten a hold of Aria and took her to the table where Lucy sat. She waved Gajeel over and was happy to see that he had decided to join them as well. They talked and drank for hours until Aria decided it was time to try to talk to some people at the guild. All of these people had created an impact and it was obvious they had done their very best to feel Tessa like she was part of the family.

Cana was a lost case since the girl was totally wasted and kept asking the most perverted questions she had ever heard. Alzack and Bisca were one of the first to approach her and right away she took a liking to them. She wondered if they were together. The way they interacted with each other was actually cute. She hardly admitted to cute things.

As she made the effort of talking to some of them, her attention was then diverted as an arm wrapped around her shoulder and guided her to a far table inside the guild. She recognized the long sleeve that covered the person's arm and she couldn't help but grin.

"You're ready for round two Bickslow?"

The taller man laughed full heartedly, "Take me out for dinner first and then we're talking."

The dragon slayer laughed out loud as his dolls yelled, _Dinner! Dinner! Dinner!_

Freed and Evergreen sat at the table and smiled at the girl. She was surprised when both of them came up to her and started _thanking_ her.

"Why are you thanking me?" She was beyond confused. She would think they would be mad because she had taken away their precious leader.

Freed cleared his throat, "If it hadn't been for you, Laxus would have been expelled from Fairy Tail. We wish we could have done something so things wouldn't have escalated so badly."

Evergreen started blowing air at her face with her fan, "But Laxus is stubborn. We love him—but when something is inside his head, it's near impossible to get the idea out of him."

Aria furrowed her eyebrows, "You guys aren't even a team anymore though."

Bickslow grinned as he ruffled her hair, "We may not be a team, but we are still friends. Its been rough since the Thunder Legion has been a team for years, but we understand why. We are just glad Laxus got a second chance."

"We will forever be in your debt Ms. Aria," Freed said politely with a small bow, "Anything you may need, don't be afraid to ask us."

She stayed with the Thunder Legion a couple more minutes until Laxus had finally returned. Who knows what he had talked about with the Master since he had been in the office for hours. She nodded her head at him as she passed him by and went back to Tessa.

"Are you ready to go?" Tessa asked her immediately, "Erza said you can share the room with me at Fairy Hills. She just left to prepare it for you."

Aria was taken aback, "Oh… well if that's the case yeah, let's go then."

The two slayers bid everyone goodnight and took off to the direction of Fairy Hills. The night was slightly chilly, but the view they had of the stars and the moon made up for it.

"Is it always like that there? Loud and obnoxious?"

Tessa laughed, "Pretty much. Lucy told me that they always find an excuse to party. Today was for Wendy and apparently for you as well. Wish I would have known that today you were going to get here."

"The lacrima broke during a fight. If not, I would have called in to let Mira know we were getting here today."

Tessa started playing with the curls that would always form at the tip of her hair, "So how was it basically living with him?"

Aria closed her eyes. She knew she couldn't hide anything from Tessa.

"I couldn't stand him at the beginning," She started as she opened her eyes again, "The cocky attitude. The arrogance. Just a lot of things. Eventually I realized I was forcing myself to not get along with him."

"What changed then?"

"The day we got attacked by the Gorians. He could've left me there to die. I had been a demon the whole month basically. Instead, he rushed me to the nearest doctor."

Tessa waited patiently for her friend to continue. She could tell there was more to the story.

"After that, I made an effort to not be such a conniving bitch. We joked a few times? I don't know. But things got easier. Even when I had been a demon, he did help me train. He was such an asshole, but he was actually useful."

Aria got silent again and Tessa thought she was done talking about it. They got to Fairy Hills and when they reached her room, Erza and Virgo were stepping out.

"I didn't know that Lucy was going to summon you," Tessa said at the spirit.

"Princess asked me to help Titania decorate the room. I brought some clothes from the Celestial World since Princess mentioned Aria didn't have much."

Aria blushed, embarrassed as she look at her bag since it was true.

Tessa smiled at both of them, "Thank you so much!"

Erza nodded as she turned to Aria, "I will cover the first two months of your part of the rent until you start getting accustomed to taking jobs here. You do not have to object—this is my welcome back gift to you. It is good to see another strong mage coming back safely from training. Hopefully soon we can work together."

"Punishment time?" Virgo asked with her emotionless voice. Aria's eyes widened and Tessa laughed, "I think that's Lucy's job Virgo."

Virgo disappeared and Erza bid them good night. The two girls went inside their rooms and Tessa's eyes widened on how the room was now shifted. Instead of just one bed, there were two, separated by a small night stand. There were two dressers now in the room and the ceiling had been painted black, but the moment they laid down on their beds, they could see a starry galaxy.

"Are all Lucy's spirits that weird? I only met Loke and he's obsessed with her." Aria asked as she walked around the room.

Tessa giggled, "Pretty much. She just got three new ones. The fluffy one is super cute!"

Aria snorted as she walked up towards her bed finally. She let out a happy sigh as her body finally rested in a proper bed. The ground had been rough and the bed at the hospital where she was for a week was no where near as soft like the bed she currently laid. She got up and quickly changed into a simple pair of shorts and tank top to go to sleep. She sat on her bed while Tessa had her back to her as she was changing.

"He kissed me"

Tessa stopped mid-way putting on her shirt and slowly turned around.

"He WHAT?!"

"Don't yell! And finish putting your shirt down, I don't wanna see your nipples."

The brunette quickly did and ran to Aria's bed, sitting right at the end of it with her eyes wide.

"Spill everything."

Aria leaned back as she groaned.

* * *

She had woken up with the most sickening headache ever. She felt like she had drank so much and then went on a run. Her stomach made flips and everything was hazy.

"About time you woke up," she heard a voice from the entrance of the tent. He was staring at her as he held a mug with steam coming out of it. He came inside the tent and handed her the mug. She took it and made a face as she sniffed it.

"That smells like shit."

He snorted but didn't say anything as he sat across from her.

"Care to explain what happened last night? I kind of guess but I rather you explain."

She took a sip and made a disgusted face. She looked at him and down at her cup.

"Me and Tessa have a blood link. We did it a year after traveling together. Since we weren't with a guild, it was the best way to communicate with each other in an emergency. Something happened last night. She sounded desperate so we casted a spell that only through strong blood links could work. We never tried it before because my power wasn't stable."

"It worked."

She nodded, her eyes shining, "I had been nervous. But… she believed in me… so I did it."

"We can go back to Magnolia then." And with that, he left the tent abruptly. She was dumbfounded, and although her head was killing her, she followed right behind him.

She tripped a couple of times as she called him, "Sparky!"

He wouldn't turn around as he kept walking into the woods.

She growled, "Laxus!"

That made him stop. That had been the first time she had said his name.

He turned around with his arms crossed, trying to muster a bored expression in his face.

"What?"

She walked up to him, "We don't have to go back yet if you don't want to."

"You're capable of controlling your magic. There's no need to stay here longer."

She was getting irritated, "What about you?"

"What about me?" he said, trying to control his temper.

"You don't seem ready to go back."

He sighed. The same old argument.

"I don't think it matters how I feel and think."

"Are you serious right now? This isn't just about me! This is about you as well."

He started growling, "Fucking drop it. We are going back."

Her eyes flashed, "Fight me then. I win, we go back, you win—we stay here until you're ready to go back."

His booming laugh lacked humor. It was dry and forced. She didn't like it.

He held two fingers at her, "One, you can barely stand right now. Two, I win then we wouldn't be going back at all."

She walked closer to him as she yelled, "Then what was the fucking point you agreeing to this if you had no intentions of going back?"

He stepped closer, his larger form towering over her, "Maybe the fucking fact I almost killed everyone back there? That I used my team, my fucking comrades?"

"You can't run away from your problems!"

He sneered at her, "Why? You fucking did and even killed the person that did you wrong! Why shouldn't I run away?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He saw the way the shine in her golden orbs disappeared. His heart dropped to his stomach as he could smell the unshed tears.

" _Shit_ … Aria—" He didn't get to finish as she slapped him. It wasn't a punch or a kick, but a broken slap.

"You're such a fucking bastard. I _told_ you I would be by your side the moment we got back to the guild because you weren't going to be the only one feeling like an outsider. But fine! Continue being such a goddam coward. Keep running away for all I care."

She turned around fuming as she sniffed. She couldn't get far however when his hand grasped her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"I shouldn't have thrown that at your face," He said, his voice lowering as the anger he had previously felt disappeared with the wind.

She didn't turn around, "No. You shouldn't have."

He didn't let her go as he stepped closer, "I'm afraid. Just knowing the disappointment the old man has towards me is enough to make me crawl under a rock."

His voice was so sincere, she could practically drown in his shame.

"He loves you. He still could have kicked you out. I was just a bullshit excuse."

"Did you mean it?"

She blinked, taken aback by his question. She finally turned around to look at him, "What?"

His grip on her arm lessened and he slowly brought it up to her neck, just holding her there.

"That you were going to stay by my side when we got back to the guild."

She couldn't look away. She couldn't even speak as she felt herself being pulled by his eyes. Her heart started thumping wildly. She could see a newfound determination in them.

All she could do was nod her head slowly. She saw him clench his jaw and then relax. He leaned his head down towards her, slowly as he expected her to pull away.

But she didn't.

His lips hovered over hers in a brief moment of hesitation and then he kissed her.

* * *

Tessa was staring at her wide eyed.

Laxus fucking Dreyar, possibly the most powerful of the six dragon slayers in Fairy Tail and former S-Class wizard kissed her best friend.

 _Sparky kissed Aria!_

Aria had finished her story with her legs crossed and through her light tan complexion, the young mage was blushing furiously. She stayed quiet after that, just looking down at her hands.

"Then what happened?!" Tessa whispered furiously at her. She wanted to scream and dance all over the room, but thought so otherwise.

Aria's expression was blank as she looked at her, "Nothing."

"… Say what now?"

"Nothing happened. After he kissed me, I passed away since my magic was drained from helping you with the spell. After that, he never brought it up. I didn't either."

"Did you guys kiss again?"

Aria shook her head, "Nope. Things went back to how they were. I called Mira and she confirmed you guys were coming back. We sparred once before we left and that's when I accidentally broke the lacrima. Then I got angry at him because he hadn't brought it up. I was finally going to ask him but that's when he used his lightning teleportation and brought us back."

There was a million things Tessa wanted to say to her in that moment, but she could only come up with one thing.

"He _**liiiiiiiiiiikes**_ you!"

Aria's reply was tossing a pillow at her, making her fall off the bed with a loud pop.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Down the drain

The following morning, Aria woke up with Tessa's endless poking for her to get up. She didn't know why her friend was so energetic. However, after several minutes trying to avoid the endless poking from the other woman, she sat up quickly, startling Tessa and making her fall off the bed. Aria shook her head at her and went over to her drawer to get some clothes to put on after her shower.

The halls of Fairy Hills were quiet and she could only guess that the women had already left to the guild. She found the bathroom with ease and grinned the moment she saw the size of the bathroom.

 _She could wait_ , Aria thought to herself as she saw the tub that already had hot water with steam coming out of it. She took her sweet time as she relaxed her muscles once they were submerged in the water. She welcomed the hot water with open arms. For over a month, she had hardly bathed, and when she did it had been in a cold lake. Once she realized she had been in the bathroom for a long time, she got out and got dressed quickly before Tessa could come in and barge in. She opted out for a pair of black cargo pants, her boots, and a navy-blue tank top. She decided to put her hair up for once since she actually had the items to do so. Once she looked presentable, she left the bathroom and back to her room.

Tessa was sitting on the bed, skimming through a book impatiently. She had picked a pair of flats that the strings would wrap around her calf to prevent them from coming off, pair of jean shorts, and a pale pink button up shirt. Her long hair was flowing on her back, the slight curls at the tip bouncing with each of her movements. When she heard the door closing, Tessa looked up and took a deep breath.

"About time! Were you drowning in there?"

"No you weirdo, now let's go."'

The walk to the guild had been pleasant. Aria had been grateful that Tessa hadn't brought up any of the conversation they had last night. The last thing she needed was for someone to accidentally listen to the conversation.

She wasn't even sure why she even felt so angry with the lightning dragon slayer in the first place. He had kissed her, so what? It wouldn't be the first time someone did so and didn't speak to her about the events.

However, those times there had been more than kissing… but that's another story.

It's not like she _liked_ him.

Right?

The guild already had familiar faces when they came in. Good morning's were thrown at the girls from left and right as they made their way to the table where Tessa usually sat with the rest of Team Natsu. Mira quickly brought them breakfast and told them that she had just put up new jobs on the request board that they could check out.

As they were eating, Aria couldn't help but feel that they were being watched. She turned her head and she could see a blue haired woman from behind one of the wooden posts glaring daggers at Tessa.

"Why is Juvia glaring at you?" Aria whispered to Tessa. Lucy being right in front of them, started shaking as she tried keeping her laughter to a minimum since she heard what Aria had said.

"Good to know now I'm not the only one," Lucy said smugly as she leaned in, getting closer to the girls. Tessa had been so focused on the food that when she looked up, she looked like a blow fish with her mouth full.

She drank some of her juice and swallowed, "What?"

"You're her love rival now," Lucy replied with a small snicker.

Tessa was still confused, "What you mean?"

"Haven't you paid attention that Juvia is practically obsessed with Gray? She's had it out for me since she found out I was teammates with Gray."

Tessa's eyes widened and she started blushing, "It's nothing like that!"

Lucy raised her eyebrow, "Really? I would have thought so otherwise. The way he was fretting over you after fighting Racer and all."

Aria's eyes shot up in surprise and leaned in, her full attention now to the busty blond that seemed to have some dirt on her friend, "Care to give more details?"

Tessa reached over the table and covered Lucy's mouth, "You're starting to sound like Happy!"

Lucy started to laugh as Tessa removed her hand, "Relax, I'm only teasing. But Juvia has noticed you two are close. It's just a matter of time she calls you love rival now too."

Aria was trying to control her laughter and failing miserably, so she decided to go over to the request board and see what they could do for the day. Her plan was to pay Erza back the money she would be spending for her rent, but if the mage were to refuse, then she would try to find something else to do for her.

"See something interesting?" Bickslow asked from her side suddenly. She hadn't even felt him come.

She grinned at him, "Not yet. What about you?"

"Well, the Master talked to us this morning. He's letting us have the Thunder Legion back now that Laxus is here."

Her eyes widened. That had been quick. Her eyes automatically went to search for him and found him on the table on the far side of the guild. She was grateful he had his back to them.

"Seriously?"

He nodded, "He's still not an S- Class mage, but having the team back is good enough. I got to the request board before Freed could. Some of the jobs he picks are fucking boring."

She smiled at him as she finally found a job the two girls could do. As she waved Bickslow bye, he called out to her.

"We are going out in town if you wanted to join us to celebrate having the Thunder Legion back. You can bring Tessa too, she's a cool chick."

"Thanks! If we are back from the job we will be there."

She slammed the paper on purpose in front of Tessa, making the young mage jump in surprise.

"Aria!"

"Yeah yeah. Here. Read it over."

With a small glare, Tessa grabbed the paper and started reading it.

 ** _Two Female Mages Wanted for Host job to catch thief_**

 ** _Location: Star Diamond Restaurant in Hargeon_**

 ** _Pay: 300,000_**

Lucy whistled as she had gotten up and sat down next to Tessa, "Not bad of a job. I've heard that's a very prestigious restaurant. Sucks it's only asking for two wizards. I'm sure you guys will do great!"

"Have you been to Hargeon?" Aria asked Lucy.

The blonde smiled as she recalled the memories, "That's where I met Natsu actually. It's a nice town. Certain areas are filled with money basically because of all the commerce trades that happen there."

"Let's head out then."

* * *

Aria leaned against the cool window on the train and groaned, "Who's fucking idea was it to make dragon slayers motion sick? This is fucking ridiculous."

"Stop talking about it! You're only making it worse."

The dreadful trip had only thankfully lasted an hour. Aria quickly welcomed the cool air hitting her face and Tessa could only shake her head at how dramatic she was being. At least she wasn't as bad as Natsu though.

The girls walked around the town until they finally found the restaurant. It had high church like ceilings and various sophisticated carvings on the frames of the building. A man in a butler outfit was standing at the entrance, his thin glasses looking over at a piece of paper as his other hand removed imaginary dust from his suit.

 _He looks like a prick_ , Aria thought. She motioned her head to Tessa and she quickly figured out what to do.

The busty brunette approached the man, coughing politely to get his attention. Once he looked up, his eyes widened as the beauty before him smiled brightly.

"We are from the Fairy Tail guild! Says you needed two mages for the job?" Her voice was practically dripping with sweetness.

He looked at her up and down and then at Aria, "Yes, thank you for coming."

He motioned Aria to come closer and then he continued, "Tonight we are holding a dinner for a prestigious business man. His wife will be here and she'll be wearing a very antique necklace. There's a group of bandits that's been causing havoc with rich families, stealing their most precious jewels and we got word they would attack tonight. We need you two ladies to lure them and capture them in the act. There'll be various guards undercover but it's up to you two to capture them."

"Do you know how many?" Aria asked.

The man shook his head disappointedly, "Unfortunately not. You guys can come inside. One of the waitresses will take you to a room upstairs for you to get ready."

The moment the two girls stepped inside, they both instantly felt out of place. The restaurant was brightly lit with various lacrimas of different sizes and different colors. The marble floors were making the light bounce and sparkle. The round tables were covered in laced pearl color cloths with silver and gold plates and silverware. The chandeliers shone brightly all over the restaurant, make it more lively.

A pink haired waitress approached the pair and quickly took them to a room upstairs. Inside, two vanities were found and a racket was filled with various fashionable and sultry dresses or skirts and shirts. Various high heels were there of different colors and sizes and a table covered in a red velvet cloth had various accessories for the girls to pair it up with their outfits.

"Do you require assistance or you ladies can do it on yourself?" The waitress politely asked.

Tessa smiled, "We can do it ourselves, thank you very much!"

The moment the door 'clicked' to make it known that it had closed, Tessa slowly turned around with a different shine in her eyes.

Aria paled as she knew what was coming.

 _Out of all the outfits, why did I let her put this on me?!_ Aria mentally thought to herself as she grabbed a glass of sparkling champagne and smiled softly at the bus boy that was handing out the drinks.

She looked down at her stilettos and sighed. Leave it to Tessa to use her like a doll.

Although she's got to admit, the glass slayer had done a fantabulous job on her.

For obvious reasons to not let themselves be known that they were from a guild, Tessa had picked a high neck snug black blouse with a matching skirt with a slit for her. The dress seemed to be solid black, but when hit by the light, silver accentuations were clearly seen. As if the stars themselves had imprinted on the dark fabric on their own. The slit reached half way of her thigh, giving a clear view of her fit tanned legs. The black stilettos had a silver jeweled flower, making them sparkle the moment the light would catch them. Tessa had done her hair up in a pretty but messy up do, some of Aria's own wavy hair falling and framing her face. Her eyes were smokey and her lips were a mauve color. The moment she had come down for the dinner, attention of the males had been turned to them immediately.

They had both agreed that using their blood link would be the best to communicate with each other as they scouted out the place. She drank a bit of her drink as her golden eyes searched for Tessa. The moment she found her on the second floor by a railing, she wanted to laugh out loud.

Tessa was currently surrounded by three men, all clearly trying to impress the young woman. Aria had to admit, she looked fabulous. She had picked a beautiful maroon asymmetric dress to hide her guild mark on her shoulder. The fabric was soft to the touch and it hugged all the necessary curves of the woman while still being decent. She had her hair to the side in a beautiful side French braid. Her eyes had minimal eye make up but her lips were a deep red. Her natural blush was accentuating her features more, making her look like almost a goddess. She could hear her laughing and flirting with the men as they offered to buy her drinks. But Aria knew better. Tessa's eyes were still focused on the floor and all over the guests.

They made sure their senses were heightened to the max that night. Both were determined to finish the job, with minimal destruction, and make their new fellow guild members proud.

Aria felt her skin crawl as she felt a hand on her bare back but opted out to giving a seductive smile to the male that had approached her.

"What is a beauty like you doing here by yourself?" He asked, trying to make his voice as smooth as possible. She was at least thankful that he was handsome, if not his pathetic attempt of flirting would make things harder for her.

She heard Tessa laugh in her mind, _Out of all the lines to say, he says that? Ugh. Make the peasant go away!_

Aria tilted her head, _Shut the hell up._

"Well I guess I'm not anymore since you're here," She said as she added with a wink.

His blue eyes shone as he leaned in closer, "What's your name beautiful?"

"Arella," She said quickly, "And yours?"

"Hedrek."

 _What kind of name is that?!_

 _Tessa, shut the fuck up and focus! One of them just put something on your drink!_

 _That old fa-_

"Are you ok?" The man asked suddenly.

Aria blinked since she realized she must've spaced out for talking to Tessa, "Yes! Sorry, it's not every day I'm approached by someone that carries themselves so _manly_. Makes you look mysterious."

The man grinned at her, his blue eyes shining brightly.

They talked for a while and she found herself enjoying the conversation for a while. The business man and his wife that they needed to watch out for entered finally the restaurant and various of the guests started clapping as they came into the room.

From her spot, Tessa's eyes widened at the beauty of the necklace the woman wore. It was extravagant and the royal blue gem kept sparkling. Shuffling of feet diverted her attention from the necklace and she almost grinned.

 _They didn't take long to show themselves,_ Tessa said through the link.

 _Yeah, I see them. Six of them. Be prepared to react first._

They waited for various seconds until all five men had positioned themselves in a sneaky radius around the businessman and his wife. Aria felt the man that had been flirting with her move to the side to stand next to one of the men that were trying to surround the couple.

 _You need to stop going for douchebags,_ Tessa said dryly.

 _What a shame. He was hot too._

Hedrek approached the couple, mockingly bowing as the other six moved swiftly amongst the crowd to flank him.

"Oh Mrs. Aherne! You look splendid tonight. May I ask where did you get such a gem?"

 _… Seriously?_ Both mages thought to themselves.

Tessa saw him giving a hand signal and quickly reacted. Just before a hook that had been flung could reach the necklace around the woman, she materialized a glass box, protecting the couple from any further attacks.

All seven men looked around, confused since they had not seen anyone with any guild marks around.

The moment the glass box appeared, various of the workers started pushing the guests back.

Tessa giggled as she jumped down from the second floor where she had been, landing gracefully in her red pumps standing protectively in front of the couple, "You guys don't know who you're dealing with."

The shock in Hedrek's eyes vanished instantly and flashed in arrogance, "My darling, you really think you can take on all seven of us by yourself?"

Aria shook her head in pity as she walked forward, her black shoes clicking against the marble floor.

Hedrek turned around, his eyes widening as he saw her removing the silver gloves that had covered her hands.

"Tsk tsk tsk. How is it you've been able to get away with over a billion jewels worth of jewelry? You guys made this too easy."

Hedrek sneered at them and looked at his men, "Attack them!"

 _Show time!_ Both girls thought to themselves.

Tessa materialized her glass dragon lance and quickly deflected the first attack thrown to her. She wanted to laugh at the power the meek sword that one of the bandits had. It was too weak. Three men had surrounded her while the other three and Hedrek went after Aria.

Tessa moved with a grace that reminded the guests of a swan on a lake. The way she twirled her lance and hitting her targets was like a beautiful deadly dance. The woman wasn't even breaking a sweat as all three of them attacked her at the same time. One of the bandits threw his knife at her and she covered her entire arm in glass, deflecting it with ease.

The bandit stared at her wide eyed, "What kind of mages are you?!"

Hedrek threw a punch that was engulfed in water at her and Aria raised her palm and caught his fist with ease. His eyes widened and the hairs on the back of his head arose as he saw electricity flickering from the woman.

"I'm glad you asked," Aria responded with a smirk as her thick blue thunder started to flicker around her with more intensity.

Tessa knocked down one of her opponents, "Why, we are Fairy Tail wizards of course!"

Aria's eyes flashed as she used his own fist as leverage and brought out her leg, kicking him right in the gut sending him clashing against the other three bandits that had been behind him, "More specifically—we are some of Fairy Tail's dragon slayers!"

* * *

"I can't believe they let us keep the outfits!" Tessa gushed as they got off the train in Magnolia.

They had successfully defeated all of them with not much effort, which was rather disappointing. The couple had been extremely grateful since the jewel had been in the woman's family for centuries. Besides the 300,000 jewels for the reward, the couple had doubled the amount and the restaurant had given the girls their entire outfit as a gift of gratitude as well.

Their good mood wasn't even phased by their motion sickness during the one hour train ride back to Magnolia. The restaurant owner had been more impressed since the last time a dragon slayer had been in their town, one third of their port had been destroyed.

They quickly rushed to Fairy Hills to drop off their things and then they made their way back into town to search for the Thunder Legion. Aria had told Tessa about the invitation from Bickslow and Tessa told her that it was her obligation to make sure Aria's current appearance will make a certain dragon slayer stop breathing.

Aria tried hiding her nervousness that suddenly hit her like a bucket of iced water but she was losing the battle. Her mind kept going through a million things as she tried figuring out what she was feeling.

 _Do I actually like him?_

Her palms started sweating, in a way grateful she had discarded the gloves. The kiss kept replaying in her head like a broken record. She remembered clearly the way her chest was filled with warmth, how her stomach had made pleasant flips. When was the last time she had felt that for just a simple kiss?

She looked over at Tessa who continued walking happily as she raised her chiffon skirt to walk better along the stone floor.

When they passed by the guild, they were surprised to see Bickslow there. For once he wasn't wearing his usual outfit or helmet. His blue hair and eyes were out for the world to see as he leaned against the gate wearing a black short sleeve and dark pants.

His tongue rolled out playfully the moment he spotted them, "What kind of job did you guys had to do to be dressed like _that_?"

Aria blushed and Tessa laughed, "Some bandits trying to steal from rich people. They were too easy though!"

He laughed as he removed himself from the gate, "At least your pretty outfits didn't get ruined."

 _Pretty! Pretty! Pretty!_

"What are you doing here? I thought you would be with your team celebrating."

"Cheerleader told me where your job was at so I decided to get out of the bar to hopefully catch you guys on the way to town so I can show you where everyone is at."

Tessa looked at him confused, "Cheerleader?"

Aria shook her head, "That's what he calls Lucy."

With more comfortable talks, the man led both girls down the road. After a few turns on some of the streets, they finally reached the bar where the Thunder Legion was supposed to be celebrating.

"Why do I smell the pyro and metal head in there?" Aria asked the moment of burnt firewood reached her nose.

He rolled his vibrant green eyes, "They caught wind of our celebration and insisted to come. Laxus threatened Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel that if they were to start fighting, he would fry them. So did Erza thankfully."

Tessa's eyes shined, "Erza Scarlet dressed for a night of fun? Now that I got to see!"

Bickslow laughed wickedly as he opened the door for them, "After you ladies!"

 _Ladies! Ladies! Ladies!_

The moment Aria set foot in, she could understand why Laxus had threatened the other three. The bar was more like a nightclub. The smell of alcohol, sweat, and sex reeked everywhere. The room was well lit, something different than other places that opted out with using darkness to set the mood. Various bodies were in the dance floor, grinding with each other. The bar was full of people, drinks being magically poured.

There were various booths all over the place when she felt Bickslow grab her shoulder and pushing her towards where everyone was at.

She immediately saw Erza, an _intoxicated_ Erza laughing uncontrollably with a drunk Lucy at something that Gajeel had said to them. Tessa smiled since that was the first time she had seen him so relaxed. Gray was sitting down in one of the dark purple lounge seats talking and laughing with Evergreen. Natsu was surprisingly behaving as he made various small tricks of fire for some of the surrounding out lookers that had approached the moment they saw the strongest of Fairy Tail at the bar. Mira was next to Freed, both laughing at the others. However, no Laxus with them.

Tessa was the first one to push herself in to their area and greeted everyone. Gajeel's eyes widened the moment he saw her, the color of her dress almost identically matching his eyes. That was the first time he had seen her look more dolled up. She tended to dress cute, he mentally admitted, but still appropriately. Nothing like a certain blonde of Team Natsu would do.

Lucy instantly flung herself at her, "Tessa! You look beautiful!"

Before Tessa could respond, a huge surprised gasp from Erza made the others go quiet.

"Oh my—Is that you Aria?!"

The moment he heard her name, his head automatically turned. His eyes instantly widened. He had been standing at a good distance from the others, enjoying the beat of the loud music, but her name he would recognize everywhere.

Not once in a million years did he think he would see her in such clothes. She always wore her signature boots, her cargo pants, and any dark colored tank top or button up shirt. But here she was, in a two-part dress with her leg coming out of a long slit and wearing stilettos of all shoes.

He had been avoiding her for days basically after he had kissed her, and now here she was looking like a goddess.

Her whole tanned back was practically glowing in the light. Next thing he knew, he moved from his spot on the wall and made himself go back to the others. He made a grunting sound as the way he had moved through the crowd he landed right behind Bickslow. The man turned around, laughing loudly as he smacked him in the shoulder.

"There's the man I was looking for!"

His loud exclamation caught Aria's attention and her heart skipped. She slowly turned around and saw Laxus behind her, staring at her intensely.

She didn't know what to say, so she opted with a soft smile and a small, "Hey Sparky."

Laxus swallowed as her eyes took in his attire. He was back to wearing his favorite purple button up shirt with some of the buttons undone, giving her a full view of his broad chest.

Tessa smirked as she saw his dumbfound expression from her spot next to Gajeel on a white stool. She leaned into him for support as she put a hand on her mouth and called Laxus out.

"Doesn't she look beautiful?!"

His gray eyes flickered to her and then back to Aria. She seemed to get shy suddenly and he found it rather comical. She was always confident and this greatly amused him. He gave her a smirk and winked at her, making the blush on her face grow darker. He motioned for her to go and sit on one of the white stools next to a small table. Tessa was glowing with happiness to see Laxus leading Aria, his hand on her bare back. She turned back to Gajeel and smiled brightly at him as she drank her drink.

Laxus grabbed the second stool and placed it next to his. She quirked an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes.

"I want to talk about how your job went. Kind of hard to listen with all the music around."

She bit her lip and sat down. She knew she was a bit stiff, but in all reality she was nervous. However, after two drinks, she was finally relaxing. Laxus had listened to everything she had said. Commenting on their strategy and laughing at how she had been flirting with the leader of the bandits that had been stealing jewelry. He had to blame the alcohol in his system. There was a small part of him that wanted to smash the thief's face on the ground. He never removed his eyes from her, giving her his full attention.

She had to admit, she really enjoyed his laugh. It was full of emotion as he found the whole situation hilarious. Part of her wanted to blame the alcohol he had already been drinking, probably giving him the opportunity to let loose.

He caught her staring at him and he stopped laughing, "What?" he asked as his face returned to his signature scowl.

Aria smiled, but as she was about to reply to him, she was interrupted.

" _Laxus Dreyar, is that you!"_ A loud high pitch voice exclaimed from the middle of the dance floor. A tall blonde woman with a pink halter top that left little to the imagination to her breasts and a white mini skirt with clear pumps pushed herself through the dancing crowd and came inside their area, pushing Lucy away who accidentally pushed Gajeel. The iron mage glared at her, but his attention was quickly turned to the growling woman next to him. Tessa didn't like the way the woman had screamed Laxus' name and she had a feeling things were about to make a turn for the worst. The woman strutted until she was finally at Laxus' side. Since his stool with Aria's were right next to each other, the woman had pushed Aria off as she got on Laxus' lap, almost making Aria fall but Bickslow got a hold of her arm.

Her amber eyes flashed with anger, "Watch it!"

The woman gave her a side glance and scoffed. She turned her attention to the man that was staring at her wide eyed, "When did you get back? Why didn't you call me?" She asked as she snuggled against his neck.

Aria's eye started to twitch and she clenched her fist as she stared at the two of them. Blue sparks were coming out of Aria.

Laxus realized that quickly and turned to the woman that was clinging to him.

"Becca, I wasn't expecting to see you here," Laxus said, trying to sound as casual as possible as he tried removing her arms around his neck.

"Don't be silly! This is our usual spot," She said seductively, "Say, why don't you ditch your friends and come back with me to my place? I can help you relax since you probably came back from a _long_ mission."

His eyes widened in alarm but before he could object, the blonde brought her lips to his, quieting him down with a passionate kiss.

Something in the air snapped in that moment. Erza, Mira, Freed, and Evergreen stopped talking and stared at the pair. Gajeel could see Aria was practically shaking and whispered to Tessa's ear who was still staring wide eyed at Laxus.

"Get her out of here before she blows up the place."

She snapped out of her own shock and nodded. Lucy had sobered up the moment she saw the kiss and decided to follow Tessa to get Aria out of there.

Bickslow winced as the electricity radiating from the woman was becoming stronger. He saw Tessa approaching them and he was grateful. Tessa got a hold of her arm, and ignoring her own pain, she pulled Aria away. Lucy felt sympathy towards the thunder mage and quickly followed them outside. Bickslow and Gajeel shared a look and both took off after them as well.

Laxus finally broke the unwanted kiss and cursed the moment he saw her head of silver hair disappear through the entrance. He pushed the woman off him and followed suit.

Evergreen could only stare wide eyed at the scene that had unfolded in front of all of them, "What just happened?"

Gray had a knowing look and shook his head, "Laxus being a dumbass."

The moment she stepped foot on the street, she snatched her arm from Tessa's hold and tossed her shoes, not caring what happened to them or who got them. She went back the same way Bickslow had showed them. Her heart was beating widely as she clenched her fists as she stomped her way back, trying to maintain the little control she had. Tessa tried keeping up with her, but she knew her friend needed to be alone

She removed the clips that held her hair up and tossed them on the floor. She started rubbing her eyes, removing the beautiful work that her best friend had done to them.

 _I'm so stupid,_ she angrily thought to herself, _Why did I even think he could possibly be interested?_

She didn't get far enough when a lightning bolt landed a few feet away from her and Laxus appeared. He was breathing heavily as he stared at her. She looked away, not wanting to meet his gaze.

"What do you want Dreyar?"

He winced. That had stung.

Tessa was coming around the corner when she saw Laxus in front of Aria. Her green eyes flashed angrily and she materialized a glass dagger on her hand. However, before she could throw it, a large hand covered her mouth and grabbed her by the waist pulling her away.

She was yelling, but her shouts were being muffled as Gajeel held her in place. She finally stopped struggling and sighed. He removed his grip from her and stepped away.

Lucy was peeking through the corner of the building, trying to make out what was going on between the other two.

"Does she actually like him?" She whispered to Tessa as she tore her eyes from them.

Tessa groaned, "Her reacting this way confirms it."

Lucy looked sad for a moment but then glared at Bickslow, "Did you know that bimbo was going to be there tonight?"

The mage shook his head, "She kind of hops around the bars. I really didn't thinks he would show up there tonight. Besides, Laxus had asked me when them two would show up."

"Can the three of you be quiet? I'm trying to listen!" Gajeel said as he was in all fours and peeking in through the corner of the building. The other three wizards gaped at him. He felt them staring at them and he growled.

"I'm trying to look for signals when to step in. They could blow out the whole town over if they want to."

The other three eyes' widened and followed Gajeel's form. Tessa was peeking from above him, then Lucy, and lastly Bickslow.

Laxus knew they were being watched, but he didn't care.

"Can we talk?"

He expected to be punched and blasted. So did the other four that were spying on them. When she finally looked at him, he could feel the change in the air drastically.

Her golden eyes were staring at him with a bored expression. There was no fire in them. They were dull and emotionless. He hated the way the look at that moment.

"There's nothing to talk about Dreyar. I would like for you to get out of my way so I can go home to sleep."

"Are you going to let me explain?"

"Don't you have somewhere to be? Isn't Becca waiting for you?"

He ran a frustrated hand through his spiky hair, "She means nothing—"

"That kiss said so otherwise."

He growled at her but thought another approach, "What about our kiss? Did that mean something to you? It must have for you to be so angry."

Her eyes finally flashed in anger, "You arrogant bastard! Are you expecting me to say it did? That I felt something, so I could be another fucking trophy for your manly ego? Were you hoping that I would be another accomplishment you would take to your bed? Well **no.** Your kiss meant **nothing** to me and I felt **nothing**. You were just another guy that I allowed to kiss me."

His temper arose and he closed the gap between them by grabbing her both arms forcefully and smashed his lips against hers.

He welcomed the warmth, the softness of them. He tried getting a reaction out of her, but after a few seconds he stopped. He moved away slowly, to see her expression.

But it was the same emotionless face.

"Are you done now?"

He let her go and stepped away.

She sneered at him, "Next time you put your hands on me without my consent, I will blast you so bad that your dear _Becca_ or any of the bimbos you probably have lined up will find you useless. Whatever friendship we were starting to form, it's over. I'll have your back in combat because you're my guildmate, but other than that, forget that I exist."

Each one of her words felt like a hot knife being stabbed on his chest multiple times. Without a word, he teleported away.

Aria stood standing for a few minutes in the middle of the street, her head bowed down. The other four that had watched the whole exchange, didn't know how to approach her, not even Tessa who had known her the longest.

Gajeel and Tessa were the only ones that heard her small sniff.

 _You were right, I need to stop going for douchebags,_ Aria brokenly said through the link.

Tessa leaned against Gajeel, her friend, seeking her own support as a tear slipped down her cheek.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: only characters I own are Aria and Tessa.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Moving Forward

A couple of days passed since the night of Tessa's and Aria's first job together since joining Fairy Tail. What had been a very successful day, it had ended as a bitter night. Aria had disappeared for two days and Laxus had gotten a job to get out of town the next morning. Those that had been sober enough when the ordeal happened could only watch in silence the attitude of the two. Mira, the first person to fret over the possibility of a couple, had surprisingly kept her lips sealed. Natsu could only wonder what was going on since he had been rather preoccupied when everything happened.

When it had been a full day and night that she hadn't come back, Tessa was worried but couldn't find the pull to search for her. The last thing she wanted was to make things worse for her.

Gajeel had been understanding when she couldn't focus on their night training. He had surprised her by saying that maybe they should just relax. It caught Tessa off guard but then she understood he wanted to distract her thoughts. He was always able to notice when her mind wasn't fully in the training.

"I'm sure she's fine," he said as he laid on the cool grass with his arms behind his head, "She's tough. You don't have to worry so much."

Tessa brought her knees to her chest and sighed, "I kind of can't help it though. I could see all the signs that there could something be there. The guys she's dated before… they were douchebags."

He snorted, "Laxus is the definition of douchebag."

She couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, you're kind of right."

They stayed quiet for a while, just enjoying the midnight breeze when he suddenly broke the silence.

"Hey."

She looked away from the sky, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "Yeah?"

"You did look nice that night."

She felt herself reddening but she managed to give him a smile as her heart fluttered by his small compliment, "Thank you."

She went to look back up at the stars and she failed to notice the small smirk on his face and the side glance he gave her.

—

When Aria had come back, Gray had been the first one to approach her. However, all he got as a response was a deadly glare. Tessa did not bother to try, knowing well how Aria's temper could be, specially when she was silent.

It wasn't until Aria had come back to the guild a second time and saw everyone congratulating Wendy after doing her first 'solo' job, that things had taken an interesting turn. She had joined Tessa at the table of Team Natsu with others standing around the young girl as she told details of her mission. She was solely focusing on the bluenette and not once did she turn around where a certain blond sat. She was determined on avoiding him as much as possible. He had noticed that as soon as she had come in and that automatically had set him on an off mood as well.

Happy had his face on the table, not even bothering filling everyone in with his version. Aria could see that he was drained and miserable. Even Lucy couldn't get a reaction out of the blue cat. Natsu has tried offering fish as well but nothing. On the Thunder Legion table of the far side of the guild, she could see Evergreen and Bickslow trying to cheer up Freed.

Aria took in how the young dragon slayer tended to avoid jobs that dealt with anything combat related. It wasn't until the crowd had dispersed that Aria placed a hand on her cheek as support and stared curiously at the girl.

"Why don't you take any of the fighting missions? There's plenty on the request board that I'm sure you can handle."

Tessa stopped the smile that wanted to spread through her face. That had been the first time she had heard Aria say since she was back.

Wendy's brown eyes widened at her question and then meekly looked down at her hands as a blush appeared on her face.

Carla looked at her young partner and then at Aria haughtily , "She's a young child, she is not ready for such tasks. Besides, her magic relies solely on support magic."

Aria raised her eyebrow at her, clearly not bothered by her tone.

"She's a dragon slayer."

"Your point? She's a child! She is not there yet for something like that!"

Translation: She's weak, Aria thought as she mentally rolled her eyes. She then decided to just look at Wendy directly.

"What if you're on the job and you suddenly get attacked? All of your friends are down—are you going to stand there or do something to save them?"

Team Natsu instantly got flashbacks of the Oracion Seis situation.

"Your friends are not always going to be there," She continued, "It's good to support them, but it's even better that they can count on you that they won't get killed."

Wendy's eyes widened as the realization set in. It was true, she had felt utterly useless the moment all of her friends had fallen to the Oracion Seis when they had first encountered them. The young girl bit her lip and looked down at her hands again.

"I don't know how. I was still very young when Grandeeny left so she didn't teach me anything about fighting."

Lucy put an arm on her, "You destroyed one of the lacrimas in Nirvana! I know you can do it Wendy."

"We'll train you," Aria leaned in and pointed at herself and Tessa.

A hushed silence fell over the guild.

Carla's eyes widened, "What?!"

Erza nodded her head in agreement, "I can only do so much if I were to offer. It would be a good idea for you to train with actual dragon slayers."

Natsu's eyes widened, "Alright I want in!"

"I don't think so gecko," Aria replied dryly.

He instantly whined, "Why not?!"

Tessa laughed nervously, "You are more of 'destroy first, think later.' That's not going to teach her anything."

"Wendy has potential and she needs training. Both physically and mentally. Dragon slayer magic is deadly when there's no control over it," Aria added in, with a seriousness that fell heavily on the guild. Tessa smiled softly, knowing well that her friend was speaking from first hand experience.

Laxus heard her loud in clear from across the guild and he inwardly sighed heavily. Memories of their training vividly going through his head. The one that was taking note of his behavior was Bickslow, but the mage wasn't commenting on it.

"I will allow this!" Makarov suddenly shouted, "This will be your mission when you're not out on jobs. You will train Wendy to become a strong dragon slayer!" He raised his glass as his tone was final.

Jet spoke up, "Not to offend you guys, but why can't Laxus or Gajeel train her? They have the most experience out of everyone."

Natsu complained loudly at that remark and Cana laughed, "You think those two would have the patience? They would scare the poor girl away!"

Various voices nodded and voiced their opinion of agreement.

Aria smirked at Wendy, "Be ready tomorrow morning."

* * *

"You seem in better spirits," Tessa said casually as they walked up a hill to reach a clearing where Aria had told Wendy to meet them at before leaving the guild the day prior.

"I don't know what you mean," Aria replied back with the same tone of voice.

Tessa got in front of her. She was getting tired of her silence, "You can't fool me. You lost something back there. I didn't know you were in lo—"

"Do not finish that sentence," Aria hissed furiously, "I didn't feel like that for him. I just thought that maybe something would happen. I don't know. When he first kissed me… I felt… happy? I don't know. I was foolish and it won't happen again. He's clearly a womanizer and I'm through with those kinds of guys."

Tessa decided to drop the subject after that. At least she was glad Aria had opened up somewhat. When they reached the clearing, they were surprised to see Lucy there with Wendy instead of Carla.

"She's not happy I'm doing this," Wendy said, "So I asked Lucy if she could come with me."

Lucy raise her hands on defense, "I'm not going to interfere. I'm just really curious how you guys will train."

"You can join if you want," Aria shrugged her shoulders, "It won't be that much of a difference of just training normally."

Tessa grinned, _This is going to be fun!  
_  
Aria grabbed Wendy by the shoulders and pointed at the trees further away from them.

"Show me your dragon roar. Don't hold back."

Wendy's eyes widened comically and gulped. Aria let go of her and stepped back.

Wendy took a deep breath and yelled, " _SKY DRAGON ROAR!"  
_  
The powerful gush of wind shot forward from the girl's mouth. The tornado destroying multiple trees in its path.

"Not bad, but you can do better," Aria commented from behind her as she motioned Tessa to come forward.

"Tessa had explained to me that anyone that is a dragon slayer can hear their inner dragon within themselves. I didn't believe so since I became a slayer due to the lacrima in me. It wasn't until I was gone in training, that I found out I had it as well."

-.-.-.-.

" _Do it again, that was fucking pathetic," his voice was harsh and boring as he leaned against a tree, completely drenched as the storm above them rumbled loudly, shaking the ground underneath. He knew this was the perfect opportunity for her to let herself go, but so far he wasn't impressed. He thought the excitement she had when the storm first hit would influence her magic, but nothing. He had never seen her so genuinely happy ever since they started to train until now._

 _Besides, there was something about making her riled up that would greatly amuse him._

" _Are you serious right now? I gave it everything I got!" Aria retorted back, clearly offended he had called her roar pathetic._

He raised his eyebrow, clearly taking in the furious look on her golden eyes. He rolled his eyes at her, "Your element is literally rumbling and you're not even taking advantage of it. Surprised your inner dragon isn't going insane because of that."

She was ready to throw an insult at him but his remark made her blink in confusion, "Inner dragon?"

He was going to say something to piss her off but the way her eyes were wide in confusion and the way she tilted her head stopped him from doing so. He stepped away from the tree and walked up to her, "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

She scratched her head, "I've heard Tessa mention it. But I thought that wouldn't apply to me cause I wasn't raised by one."

He sighed, his voice losing some of his typical brashness, "Just because we weren't raised by one doesn't mean we are lesser. We are second generation. The lacrima is in us and so is our own inner dragon. You just gotta focus."

He reached over and spun her around, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. He slightly gulped by the closeness of their soaked bodies, but pushed any thoughts out of his mind to help her reach what she needed to reach.

" _Close your eyes and focus. You'll feel a powerful rumbling within you if you focus hard enough. That's your inner dragon. Reach to it."_

She was still skeptical over the whole thing. Yeah, she had a different view of the man since he didn't let her die because of the Gorians, but she couldn't help but think that he sounded crazy for what he said.

However, there was something on the deep tone of his voice that she felt compelled to do as he said. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt her mind wander off and going deeper within her. Suddenly, something that she had never felt before, rumbled pleasantly at her.

" _I think I found it."_

" _Good. What does it want?"_

" _Thunder."_

She could hear the smirk in his voice, "Then do as it says."

 _-.-.-.-.-./,_

"Earth to Aria!" Tessa said, as she waved a hand in front of her friend, clearly wondering what had made her space out so suddenly.

Aria blinked in confusion, "Wha—"

Lucy giggled, "You kind of spaced out when Tessa was explaining to Wendy about the inner dragon thing."

Aria cleared her throat and blushed, "Sorry. Anyways, try it again."

Tessa seemed like she wanted to ask but thought so otherwise. She turned back to the young girl, "Close your eyes and feel the wind around you. That's your advantage compare to everyone else. There's air everywhere. Fill in your lungs, your soul."

The young girl felt a new form of strength as she listened to the other two. She did as they told her, and this time, her roar was twice the size it had previously been.

Tessa and Aria smiled at each other and joined the girl.

" _THUNDER DRAGON ROAR!_ "

" _GLASS DRAGON ROAR!"_

* * *

An excited Levy rushed to the inside of the guild, "You can see their dragon roars from here!"

Multiple guild members rushed out, exciting shouts and impressive comments could be heard as they saw from the distance three different dragon roars.

Laxus felt a moment of pride as he saw the familiar blue thunder in the distance. In just a month she had increased her power to great extent. She wasn't afraid to show her power anymore and for that he was proud.

However he lost the opportunity to share that with her by her side. Ever since their little game a few weeks back, he found new attraction towards her. Specially after he had kissed her. But in just the matter how the potential of something happening started, it ended just as quickly.

She had looked beyond gorgeous a few days ago, and in that moment he realized that maybe he should pursue something serious with her, see where it went. But his luck went down the drain when Becca appeared.

Aria looked beyond heartbroken. She could say whatever she wanted, but he wasn't a fool. She had felt something for him. What specifically, who knows.

But he fucked it up.

"It seems that your training with Aria paid off," Freed casually said from his side as they all stood outside watching with the rest, "Not that she wasn't powerful, but there seems to be a difference. She keeps it up, Master may even consider her for the S Class trials this year."

Laxus crossed his arms, "Yeah I guess so."

"I never doubted that you would come back to us."

The statement was blunt and to the point. Something Freed hardly ever did before. An overwhelming guilt filled Laxus but he kept his face neutral. He had to be grateful for his team. They had basically received him with open arms. Team Natsu had also surprised him as well by showing up at the bar for the celebration of the Thunder Legion being put back together. He thought back to what Erza said when they had first gotten to the bar.

" _Our teams are not just comrades. They are our friends, our family. They are what helps us in times of need and to fall back on in combat. They missed you and they needed you. It's good that you're back_."

All of them had made conversation with him. Or more like, he listened to them while he responded when he had deemed it necessary. Then Mira and Gajeel (of all people) had shown up too. It had been tense, especially because he kept replaying in his head the damage he had done to Natsu and Gajeel. If Aria hadn't stepped in when she had, he couldn't imagine the shape of the other two after the battle. The iron slayer had kept to himself at first, but then Mira had ordered a round of shots, everyone had loosened up. All of them, in their own way, said that they had forgiven him for what he had done. Gajeel and Natsu had asked for a rematch. Lucy and Gray outright said it. Mira didn't need words, her smile said it all. He didn't feel like an outsider with them, but the rest of the guild was still another story.

Some still couldn't look at him. Those that did wouldn't hide their dislike. But he paid them no mind. It wasn't their decision after all if his grandpa had not expelled him or not. And even then that was still a shock that he hadn't been.

There's a lot that he still needed to prove to himself and to everyone. His whole personality was not going to change overnight, but he didn't find them as a bunch worthless weaklings anymore. Even if it had been over a month that he had left the guild, that had opened his eyes lot more than he thought.

And he knew the silver haired beauty had something to do with it.

* * *

"Come on Wendy, I know you can kick better than that!"

Aria had her hands up in a defensive position and Wendy was panting heavily in front of her. After their roars and a few hours more of mental training, which Tessa led most of it, they had gone into physical training.

Something that Aria was practically bouncing off her feet for.

They didn't have any punching bags of any sort, so she had opted out by putting her arms in front of her face and have Wendy kick them multiple times. The small girl had refused, worried of the damage she could do to Aria's arms, but the woman had insisted. Besides, that was going to be the best way to see where Wendy laid physically.

The bluenette cleaned the sweat dripping down her forehead and did as the other woman said. She kicked and kicked, eventually placing more force into them that finally Aria's arms started to bleed.

The woman grinned brightly, "Finally you drew blood!"

Wendy apologetically stared at her now bleeding forearms, "Let me heal you!"

The woman waved her off as she started to walk towards the small backpack she had brought with her, "I have a few bandages, don't bother with your magic. Just help me wrap my arms."

Wendy did as she was told and for a moment, they sat quietly as Wendy wrapped her arms and they stared at Tessa teaching Lucy a few fighting moves. As Aria paid attention, some of them were new and she had never seen them before. She waited until the two were done and made their way to them.

"Where did you learn some of those?"

Tessa blinked and stuttered, "O-oh. Um. Gajeel did."

Lucy couldn't help but grin, "Are you blushing?"

Tessa shook her head and she turned around, clearly avoiding attention to her face, "Of course not."

After a couple more hours later, the four mages went back to Lucy's apartment battered, dirty, and extremely sweaty. Aria had pushed them physically and Tessa had pushed them mentally. Aria was able to help Lucy with her fighting skills a bit more than Tessa. Lucy had a tendency of relying solely on her keys and that was something both female slayers were hoping to break. If Lucy were to lose her keys or something, she would be in serious trouble and that's the last thing they wanted for her. They all took turns sparring each other and they ended the night with Aria and Tessa fighting one another.

Lucy couldn't help but be beyond impressed with both slayers. They knew each other so well, that it had almost been a draw. They knew each other's attacks and such, but she had to admit that Aria had the upper hand the moment she brought out her thunder magic. Tessa wasn't used to fighting it. Every now and then and it had been small things of power.

She offered for all the girls to have a sleep over at her house and use her bathtub. All three of them happily agreed and quickly left. It took them a few hours to get back and they had been so grateful the moment Magnolia had come into the clearer view.

Wendy had fallen asleep on Lucy's lap after bathing and braiding each other's hair. She knew she was walking in dangerous waters since she wasn't that close to Aria, but she still worried about her.

"Did you mean what you said that night Aria?" Lucy quietly asked to not disturb the young girl on her lap.

Aria stopped drying her hair and looked at her and then at Tessa, "I swear you two are a lot alike."

Tessa grinned, not even an ounce offended at that.

"Want me to bullshit or the truth?"

"The truth," Both girls said at the same time.

"Nosy. That's all I gotta say. Fine. I liked him. He kisses good," she wanted to stop it right there, but both girls were giving her a certain look of 'There's more and we want to know' so she gave in.

"He's sexy as hell." She buried her face on her hands, utterly embarrassed that she was admitting that to them. The other two were grinning widely.

However, she shook her head as in to come back to reality, "But he's a womanizer. I've dealt with that kind before and I don't want to again. He clearly doesn't feel the same way. So, moving on!"

"Well that kiss he gave you said otherwise," Lucy said as she continued grinning.

Aria sighed, "Forgot you guys saw that," she mumbled under her breath.

"What if it was just all a misunderstanding?" Tessa pointed as she lightly tapped her cheek with her index finger.

"Not happening. So Lucy, when did you and Natsu started sleeping together?"

The busty blonde's eyes widened dramatically and her face went a deep red, "No! Oh my—Where did you get that idea?!"

Wendy stirred on her sleep but thankfully didn't wake up.

"Sometimes you reek of him. At least the few times I've been around you. Tessa should smell it, she has a better nose than I do."

Tessa looked confused, "I just assumed she did because they're teammates?"

"You're his teammate too and you don't reek of him like that."

Lucy groaned, extremely glad Wendy was asleep, "He sometimes breaks into my window and sneaks in my bed."

Sly smiles appeared on the other two, "Ohhh is that so?" Tessa asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Lucy glared at her, "I wouldn't talk Ms. I-Have-Gray-and-Gajeel-on-my-hand."

Aria had to grab a pillow to stop herself from laughing loudly.

Tessa's eyes widened and blushed furiously, "Hey! It's not like that! They're both just really good friends."

Both girls gave her a look like they didn't believe her.

Lucy loved that she had gotten the attention off her and decided to milk the opportunity as much as possible.

"If you had to pick—who would you go for?"

Aria snorted, "She can't pick just like that. She has to see what they can both offer. Although I would have to say, Gajeel is the better pick."

Tessa's blush deepened. "Why Gajeel?"

"Typical bad boy, rough around the edges, attractive, and mysterious."

"Are you describing Gajeel or Laxus?" Lucy asked with a smirk. The question earned her a pillow to her face. Aria nodded, happy that the pillow had made full contact and turned around to the brunette.

"Anyways! Yeah, they have similarities. Gajeel doesn't seem the type to sleep with anything that has boobs and a vagina though. Keeps to himself. He's loyal. I've heard of the times he watched Juvia's back when they were in Phantom Lord. AND!" She paused for dramatic effect, "He isn't getting naked 24/7 like ice boy."

"But Gray is sweet though," Lucy interjected, "He definitely knows how to treat a lady. Will lay down his own life for anyone in the guild. Yeah he gets naked, but at least his body is nice to look at."

Tessa couldn't believe it was possible to feel herself becoming redder, but it was.

"Why are you guys comparing them?"

Aria grinned, "Sooner or later you're going to end up picking."

—-

"WHAT?!" Various shouts echoed loudly through the guild. Everyone was already inside, getting another day started when they found various lacrima cameras, the over excited reporter from Sorcerer's Weekly, Jason, with a microphone in hand, and a very mysterious Master. He had broken the news that everyone would be participating on the 24 hour Endurance Road Race that day.

Lucy, Wendy, Aria, and Tessa paled since both girls had woken up sore from their training session the day before.  
Aria's forearms were still bandaged from the damage Wendy had caused.

"Couldn't you have given us a warning old man!?" Gray loudly asked.

Makarov laughed, "As wizards, you should always be prepared for the unexpected! There shouldn't be excuses for failure! You get up and continue forward. I decided this year to catch all of you off guard, to show me what you guys really got! Don't worry, I already have prepared the punishment game for this year!"

Laxus groaned to himself. He had been lucky that he had been on a solo S-Class mission the year prior and didn't partake on the event. He had heard about the last punishment the year before and he was even more glad he hadn't been there. He only participated on the race a few times, but after a while, he would always make sure he was gone in complicated issues.

"You guys have an hour to prepare and then meet me back on South Gate Park! Now off with you hooligans!"

The girls and Gajeel stood dumbfounded as everyone panicked to change clothes and get ready. Various conversations could be heard about the 'punishment' game and they were confused. Gajeel took a hold of Gray and pulled him to them.

"Oi kid, why the hell is everyone freaking out?"

"It's a race you idiot, didn't you hear? The loser or losers will have to undergo some embarrassing and horrible punishment that only the master knows."

"Say what!?" The four girls exclaimed. Their eyes were wide in disbelief.

"You have to show how strong you are in this. You're screwed if you're in last place. Last year Jet won."

They turned to look at the man, who was trying his hardest to impress Levy who was not interested.

"Guess we gotta get ready," Wendy sheepishly said. Carla shook her head, "See child, you should not have trained so hard yesterday!"

/./././././.

An hour later, the whole guild was standing at the starting line, listening to the Master give his speech in order to encourage everyone. Aria had changed into a pair of short shorts and a tank top, feeling extremely comfortable with the idea of running with her boots on. Tessa was wearing a regular t shirt and short shorts as well, but prepared with running shoes. As she stood to listen to the Master, she kept adjusting her sports bra, not looking forward to how uncomfortable she might get. Aria looked around until her eyes fell upon Laxus' form. He was wearing a plain black shirt where the sleeves had obviously been ripped off and a pair of track pants. She was glad however, that he hadn't made an attempt to approach her after what happened. The closer she look at his posture, he seemed the most bored out of everyone there.

"Now for the rules!" Makarov said, catching Aria's attention, "After several complaints from last year, flying magic is prohibited. Laxus, you cannot use your teleportation. All other forms of magic are allowed. Remember to use your brain in this task, it is not just about who's the fastest. You will go up to the mountains and grab a Wyvern Scale and bring it back to the finish line! NOW ALL OF YOU GET READY!"

"This year's title is mine!" Natsu laughed loudly, "I came up with the perfect secret weapon!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever. You're going to be eating my dust pyro."

Bickslow saw the serious look that Aria had and laughed, nudging her side.

"Don't worry, once I win I'll be nice and buy you a drink to cool off."

"Yeah, you keep thinking you're going to win," She replied back with a playful tone.

Tessa and Aria grinned at each other when they got ready at the starting line. They had formed a plan that would leave everyone angry and riled up.

The moment the horn was let out, a loud powerful thunder was heard from the sky right at the same time, startling and confusing the competitors since they weren't sure if it had been the horn or the thunder. However, seeing Aria and Tessa take off at full speed answered their question.

But when Jet and Laxus took off, and both slammed into a powerful glass barrier, it made everyone stare in horror and shock.

Tessa looked back when she had heard the impact and laughed, "You do know he's going to realize this was your idea right?"

"He can eat my dust for all I care! How long did you put it up for?"

"Two minutes!"

2 minutes later.

Laxus mad wasn't even the word that could describe him. He could not believe he had fallen for that thunder sound.

Gajeel could only smirk as the glass finally faded. That had been a smart move.

It's on!

/./././././.

Eventually Jet had gotten ahead of them and both girls had groaned when they realized he was too fast to trap him or hit him with anything.

Aria had decided to slow down her pace, falling behind Tessa, to save some of her energy. She had a feeling that she was going to need it once she had the Wyvern scale in her possession and it was morning.

A sudden kick to her legs made her eyes widened and let out an 'eep' sound as she ended up falling face first. She groaned as she propped herself up and she rolled her eyes to see who had tripped her.

"Figures it would be you. Mad with my little trick?"

Laxus glared at her, "Out of all things, you did that?"

She smirked as she stood up and dusted herself off, "It worked didn't it?"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm, "Can we talk?"

 _So much for him not approaching me,_ she bitterly thought.

She looked at his hand and then at something behind him. Before he could react, she had pushed him away from her. When he made sure he wasn't going to fall, he cursed the moment he felt the ground being turned to ice.

Gray!

She laughed and jumped away before the ice could touch her and took off running. She clearly heard him slipping into the ice and inwardly laughed.

/./././.:./.

The race towards the mountain had been long and dreadful. Tessa didn't even cared the moment that Natsu and eventually Erza passed her. She was getting tired but she knew she had to be smart with her energy. She had already used quite a bit when she had made a labyrinth full of glass. She had been successful on making it stand for ten minutes until she finally felt her magic drain.

Natsu had been using his fire to boost his speed and it was a matter of time he would run out of magic so she was planning on using that to her advantage as well.

 _Stupid mountain!_ She panted as she ran up the rocky road.

Running was something that she had always hated even if she was a competitive person. She felt bad for Happy however, since the poor cat had to rely solely on his small legs to make it to the finish line.

Aria had caught up to her, and both girls instantly grabbed the first pieces of Wyvern scales they came across.

"This," Tessa panted, "is… ridiculous!"

"I'm still getting you back for that stupid labyrinth!"

Tessa's eyes widened, "You fell for that?!"

/./././.:.

Morning had quickly come and both girls were racing against Erza, Laxus, Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel. There were no signs of Jet and they just assumed he had made it to the finished line already if Laxus was on their same group. Which was surprising, but the mage had decided to do this without his magic to prove a point.

They were all completely drenched in sweat, panting, and groaning as they continued pushing their limbs to their limits competing for first place.

Tessa had tried riling them up and throwing insults so one of them could get distracted and she could get in front. But no one seemed to be falling for it. Not even Aria and thathad always worked in the pass with them.

However, when a loud yell from behind them came from a person that was running at full speed, they all realized they had been competing for first place the whole time.

Laxus engulfed himself in his lightning and smirked at them.

 _Fuck this_ , he thought, "See you idiots at the finish line!"

He took off, going way ahead of them and Aria growled.

"NO YOU ARE NOT YOU STUPID BLONDE!"

And for the first time ever, her own blue thick thunder covered her and went after him.

Tessa could only gap at them, shock since she had never seen Aria doing that.

"That's not fair!" Natsu complained loudly.

/././././.

Both slayers were growling as they were head to head towards the finish line. Aria knew she was giving all her magic away for imitating Laxus' power of using his lightning to be faster with her thunder.

"So you make a move on me and then agree to go for a drink with my teammate?" Laxus growled from her side, his eyes right on the finish line that he could finally see.

Aria almost tripped, "Are you fucking kidding me? That's none of your business!"

"It kind of is since he's part of MY team!" He roared at her.

"What he does on his own personal life it doesn't concern you!" She yelled back at him. Her magic disappeared and she stood there, just a few yards away from the finish line.

"Are you telling me you're jealous?" She asked as she crossed her arms.

He was five feet away and he stopped. He whirled around and stomped towards her.

"I'm not fucking jealous!" He roared as he neared her.

She met his own glare with one of her own, "Yes you are!"

"You're being delusional!"

"You're being stupid!"

He was about to reply back at her when his eyes widened at the commotion behind her. He barely had time to grab her and turn his body so he could get the full impact.

Natsu had run out of magic and tripped, crashing into Erza, who crashed into Jet, who crashed into Gray, then Tessa who crashed into Gajeel. Laxus grunted as he felt the full weight of the iron dragon slayer who weighed way heavier than the normal person thanks to his magic. His grip on Aria lessened a bit since Gajeel was a lot heavier than he thought. All of them groaned in pain as they skidded on the ground. Aria had hit her head on the concrete and was groaning, trying to hold her head. Laxus winced since he had heard the impact and he still had a hold on her waist. Tessa's air had been knocked out of her the moment she had landed on Gajeel, making her cough uncontrollably. He was groaning in pain as well but patted her back so she could regain her breathing.

They were all groaning and wincing and could only lay on the ground to see Happy out of everyone win the endurance race.

They could hear Jason's enthusiastic screams as he declared Happy the winner. Tessa, still red and coughing, voiced her opinion loud and clear.

"The fucking cat won!?"

Slowly and dreadfully, they started to move when they saw Wendy and Carla taking second and third place. More complaints were heard, but as some of them started to get up, they heard the rest of the guild moving towards them. During the whole stampede, Erza had gotten a hold of Tessa and pulled her with her. Laxus didn't think twice as he picked up Aria who was still disoriented from the blow to her head and used his lightning to get over the finish line with everyone else.

The last thing Aria heard was Lucy complaining that it wasn't fair that the losers had to appear in Sorcerer's Weekly in pin up outfits.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Down the rabbit hole… or the sky?

Several days passed by after the race and things went back to normal.

Or as normal as they could be in the guild.

Aria had refused to join Team Natsu when Erza had invited her to do so. It wasn't that she didn't like them, just that she felt she was intruding since that was Tessa's team. Her and Tessa still went out on jobs together from time to time. Many that had heard of them before were surprised to find out both girls had finally joined a guild.

Now that Aria was back, Tessa was able to concentrate more with her night training with Gajeel. Aria would eventually find out about them, so after the race, Tessa told the other woman where she would go at night,however, Aria had not been shocked in the slightest. Tessa had already confessed that Gajeel had shown her some moves anyways, so Aria wasn't sure why Tessa was telling her like it was some sort of big secret. She was proud of her and she loved teasing her. She had joined them a few times, but after the third time, she decided to stop going. It wasn't that she didn't like fighting with them, but she felt like she was intruding. It had been on the third sparring session that she started noticing the little flirting signals here and there. What was more hilarious to her, neither of them were noticing.

She had sparred with Natsu after he spent several days begging her. It had been fun, but Natsu would forget it was for practice and tried going all out. Many times she didn't have a choice and had to knock him out. The only way she was capable of doing so was because she was faster than him.

A few times at night while Tessa was gone, Aria had gone into Wendy's room and woken up the small girl for a small training sessions. She could feel the huge potential in the girl, but she was extremely modest and she would still hold herself back. Aria didn't want that. At the end, dragon slayers were supposed to be one of the strongest wizards out there. So whenever she could find the opportunity, she would work with Wendy and would ignore completely Carla's chastising if she was being too rough on the girl.

Majority of the time, she just trained alone, and today of all days a storm came down in Magnolia.

Tessa couldn't remember the last time she had seen Aria so happy. Then again it had been a while since she was near her when there was a storm around. She was practically glowing. She kept smiling, making conversation, running in the rain and closing her eyes whenever the thunder went off.

Aria busted open the guild door's loudly greeting everyone. She skipped over to the bar, kindly and brightly asking Mira for a milkshake.

The Thunder Legion were even giving her weird looks, but when they looked at Laxus, he didn't even bat an eye. He had seen that side of her one of the times they had been training. He also didn't know what to make of it. She turned into a different person. He also fondly remember the memory since he had helped her listen to her inner dragon.

"Well you're in a happy mood," Gray commented amusingly as Mira gave her the milkshake. The silver haired woman just continued slurping her milkshake at a fast pace.

"How come she's like this?" Lucy asked Tessa as she sat next to her.

"The storm outside. Always gets her in a good mood."

 _And once her magic gets going there's no stopping her_ , Laxus thought from a distance, clearly remembering when Aria had landed a very powerful hit on him soon after reaching her inner dragon. The following morning part of him had regretted giving her that talk just because of how sore he had been where she had hit him.

Tessa rolled her eyes at her friend when she was distracted by a loud snoring. She turned to one of the tables to see Natsu completely passed out.

"That's a first," She commented as she saw the drool coming out. She had gotten used to his rambunctiousness and picking fights with everyone at the guild.

Aria smacked the cup down and paid Mira. She grabbed her bag and practically ran outside waving her hand.

"Aria, tell Wendy I have her morning tea ready if you see her!" Mira called out to her.

Tessa glared at her running form, "YOU GET SICK AGAIN I WON'T TAKE CARE OF YOU THIS TIME!"

Erza laughed at her, "She actually gets sick?"

Tessa rolled her eyes, "It's happened a few times. That girl takes a punch but a case of the flu and she's dramatic."

She stayed at the guild with her friends, knowing well Aria was going to take hours on her own. It was the total opposite of how everyone was being at the guild. Everyone was so low of energy, not even bothering to look at the request board.

 _I guess it's an off day for me_! She thought happily as Lucy brought out a board game for them to play to kill time.

* * *

She loved being in high heights when storms would happen. She wished she could fly through the dark thick clouds, taking everything in. She felt so alive, so full of energy. Specially because she had reached a new level of her magic and she could feel her inner dragon purring pleasantly in the back of her mind. She was becoming one with the storm and she felt nothing could ruin her moment, not even Laxus if he were to suddenly appear.

But that changed when she felt the shift of the energy in the air. She felt her senses rising up in alert and when she opened her eyes, they widened when she saw the eye of the storm settling on Magnolia.

 _This is no regular storm,_ she thought as she took off immediately.

She ran down the hill, her breathing becoming shallower as she pushed her legs until she finally turned into her thunder and went faster towards the guild. The wind viciously picked up with the rain that even in her form she was having a hard time to see because of the water.

Everything around her started fading away, disappearing in front of her. Like if it was droplets of paint reaching the water and swirl around until there was nothing. She could see the outlines of the guild, but just like any building around her, it was gone in seconds. She abruptly stopped when she saw that and she could feel her eyes welling up with tears.

Panic blossomed from within her as flashes of her friends, of Tessa, of _him_ started going through her head. She tried continuing forward, but the moment there was nothing around her, she passed out.

/././.

"Hey! You can't die right now! Wake the hell up!"

"Gajeel—what are you doing?"

"Maybe a hit on the head will wake her ass up!"

"You need her to be healthy."

 _Ugh… my head…  
_  
Her golden eyes opened slowly and she groaned as everything was still hazy. She still could hear the other voices near her when she finally took in a deep breath. The moment her lungs were filled and her memory started coming to her, she sat up quickly, making her choke.

She felt an arm on her back as she choked out, the panic settling in, "T-the g-guild!"

"Shh, breath in calmly," a deep soothing voice said next to her. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion since she had never heard that voice before.

She finally did as she was told and looked up. She was surprised to see a handsome man with blue hair and a red tattoo over his eye staring at her worryingly. She blushed by the intensity of his gaze. She took in his clothes and the staffs he carried, but she was still confused.

"I'm Mystogan," he said the moment he saw her confusion. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted.

"So since she's awake, care to explain what the hell is going on and where is everyone?"

Her eyes widened as she looked behind her, relief sweeping through her. The feel of loneliness she had felt when she first saw everything fade away was gone.

 _That means the others should be ok,_ she thought. She got up and took in her surroundings. She didn't know how to feel, but her body was naturally reacting and it was shaking. There were bubbles floating around, like if they were under water. Everything was a dark blue and the ground resembled white sand. There was nothing around them. No mountains, no buildings, no trees.

"An anima, a magical vortex, swept through Magnolia and took everything and all of your friends. They have been taken to Edolas, a parallel universe that is up there. You must go and save them before it's too late," He pointed to the eye of the storm.

"What?" Aria asked, having a hard time to believe they had been taken somewhere.

"How come we weren't sucked in?" Gajeel asked as he crossed his arms.

"My guess is that you're both dragon slayers. I can't think of any other explanation. You are the first ones that I find so far. Here, take this. Edolas is very limited on magic power. This will help you keeping your magic energy. However, it is important to keep a low profile in Edolas."

His bandaged hand handed each of them one circled pill. It reminded them of a piece of candy. Both dragon slayers were skeptical of the pill, but Gajeel took the first dive and ate it. Once Aria saw that he did not collapse, she ate it as well.

Neither of them felt a difference.

"I am not sure where you will land in Edolas when I send you there," He said as he reached for his fan like staff, "But you must find the capital. I am sure that is where you will find them."

He moved his staff in front of them, to make a small tornado of wind appear under them. It started lifting them up in the air, shooting the up at a high speed.

Gajeel did not expect her to scream so loud and girly.

* * *

 _Why did I have to get stuck with them_ , Laxus thought as he continued hearing Carla throwing orders left and right as they walked through some weird forest. The white cat had been more bossy than ever the moment they landed in Edolas. He had found Tessa first and soon after they had found a broken Wendy who thought everyone was completely gone. Laxus thought that he could at least deal with them, but once Natsu came out of the white looking sand, he couldn't believe his luck.

It took him most of his willpower to not fall asleep to Carla's explanation of what her and Happy were. There was something about her voice that would irk him. She was too snobby for his liking. After a long dreadful speech and listening to Happy's continuous rumbling of his empty stomach, they had set off to the inside of the anima. Happy had offered to take Laxus and Wendy so "Carla's pretty hands wouldn't get damaged by his weight." While Carla would take Natsu and Tessa.

He wanted to gag at Happy's attempt of being chivalrous.

What was the cherry on top was finding out they had no magic whatsoever. They had crashed rather badly after a few seconds of the cats flying in Edolas, but he had been able to switch the fall so Wendy would fall on top of him. Tessa and Natsu had worse luck, with Tessa eating it first and Natsu landing on top of her. Afterwards, they had been chased by some monster and he couldn't do a damn thing. His punches had zero effect on the animal, so he had to opt out and pick up Wendy and take off running with Tessa, the exceeds, and Natsu behind him.

After a few failed attempts to speak to the few human beings they had seen, since they had shown immense fear towards the exceeds, Carla mentioned that it would benefit them more if they were to disguise themselves. Natsu quickly had gotten to work, trying to make ridiculous customs out of plants and flowers they had found.

"No fucking way I'm putting that on," He had quickly said the moment Tessa threw him a few things to hide his appearance with.

"You think I'm happy lightning rod? This is making me sweat and I just got this shirt."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Didn't take you for one to care about her clothes."

She rolled her eyes, "Every girl does so in her own way. Now hurry up so we can get moving. Oh, by the way. I haven't forgiven you for what you did to her."

But before he could even reply to her, she had walked off to give him privacy to change.

He grimaced as he actually started putting on the leaves over his body.

 _I haven't forgiven myself._

And that was another weird feeling he had. He had no clue where she could be or if she was okay.

* * *

"I'm sweating my ass off with this cloak," Aria grumbled as she walked through the desert with Gajeel. He glanced at her, throwing a nod at her way.

"You and me both. But we catch too much attention."

She sighed as she knew he had been right. They had landed in some small village and right away the villagers had turned their heads and either stare at them curiously or in fear. They weren't sure if it was because of Gajeel's intimidating demeanor or if it was how much Aria's hair glowed with the bright sunlight. She had found two ripped sheets that she decided to turn them into cloaks so they could move around the village with more ease.

There wasn't much and it was very modest, but she couldn't help it but to look around when they were there. Even the sky was fascinating, with many floating islands above it with planets or moons being visible in the distance.

She had been impressed by how Gajeel moved and listened to information. She was able to follow his lead on hiding through alleys and such to listen. Eventually, they had heard leads to the city of Louen, a couple of miles away from the village they were on. So far they hadn't heard anything of an anima opening up or anything about Fairy Tail, slightly crushing Aria's hopes of finding their friends.

After Gajeel was successful of stealing food and water, they set forth into the desert to make way to the city of Louen. However, neither of them were sure how long it would take them.

"Do you think we'll find them?" She asked softly as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

He wasn't an idiot. He could hear the second question hidden in there.

Will we find Tessa?

"A weird looking world ain't gonna get rid of Fairy Tail."

* * *

Tessa was so frustrated at Natsu like never before. The boy couldn't just sit still. They had been chased off by another beast that Natsu had decided to piss off again and this time they had fallen off inside a small cottage up a tree. She felt they were being diverted from their destination and that made her more mad. At this rate, they were never going to find their friends.

Wendy had found a chest filled with clothes that even Laxus had let out a sigh of relief. He helped the young girl pick out clothes for him and Natsu while she grabbed something for Tessa and herself. He grabbed Natsu by the scruff of his neck so they could change outside and give the girls some privacy.

When they were changing, he noticed the way that Natsu had frozen midway putting his scarf again.

He quirked his eyebrow, "What is it?"

Natsu raised his hand, his finger pointing behind Laxus and shaking with excitement, "Look! That's the guild mark! We found them!"

Laxus was confused, but followed the pyro's direction and his gray eyes had widened as well.

"Why is he freaking out?" Tessa asked as she stepped outside. She was finishing putting her hair up in a high bun when she heard Natsu. Wendy walked out too, fully comfortable in her new outfit and her hair up in pigtails thanks to the help of Tessa.

Laxus didn't say anything but pointed at the Fairy Tail guild mark. The girl's and exceeds' eyes widened, but before they could say anything, Natsu had taken off at full speed.

They ran after him, calling his name to wait, with Laxus even threatening him but he wouldn't slow down until he reached the guild doors.

Natsu was just feeling happy. Granted, the guild looked nothing like their other guild. This one looking like something out of a princess type story since the guild looked like it was inside a tree. But he could hear the voices in the other side and that made him happy.

He opened the doors and all of them walked in. They expected relieved screams and frantic questions when they stepped foot inside.

But nothing.

And the more they stared, the more they realized something was wrong. Cana was fully dressed, Gray was wearing hundreds of layers of clothes while proclaiming his love for Juvia. Elfman was sitting crying while he's being bullied by Jet and Droy.

 _What the fuck is this?_ Laxus thought to himself. But his surprised increased when he heard a certain someone's voice.

"Sparky! You got here back earlier than expected, are you ok?" A heavily pregnant Aria went up to him, her eyes filled with familiarization as she stared at him with a gentle smile on her face. Getting on the tip of her toes, she placed her hand on his neck to bring him down to her to greet him with a full kiss.

In front of the entire guild.

Tessa, Natsu, Happy, and Carla could only stare wide eyed at the scene in front of them.

 _What is going on?!_ She thought frantically. She knew she had her mouth open. But she couldn't help it.

He stood still as she had kissed him and he almost kissed her back because the lips were literally the same. But he knew he needed to get it together. When… Aria pulled away, he couldn't help but notice more something was off besides her being pregnant. Her hair was extremely long and in a half ponytail. Her arms weren't toned, indicating that she was not a fighter. There was no scar on her chest either. And then there were her eyes.

They were so filled with love and adoration as she smiled brightly at him while rubbing her belly.

 _This is not her_ , he sadly thought to himself as he finally came to a conclusion. He looked back at the others and he knew they had figured it out as well, even as dense as Natsu was.

"Oi Natsu!" A loud voice said from the other side of the guild, "Who's the kid?"

/./././././.

"We need to find more information," Aria hissed at him as they walked around. They had reached the city after a few hours and they had not wasted any time to find some sort of clue, anything that could be useful. But their luck was not in their side. Every time Gajeel had gone up to someone, they would sneer at him and walk away. At first Aria had found it comical, until she realized it was starting to get ridiculous at the amount of people that would turn away from him. Eventually, she tried doing so herself but either the women would scoff at her or the men were being perverts.

At one point Gajeel had to step in when he smelt her calling out her power. Now that was the last thing they needed.

They continued around for a while until they ended up finding a group of thugs talking by an alley. She heard Gajeel snicker and she looked at him confused.

He smirked, "Doesn't matter where you go, you'll find scumbags like them."

She leaned against the wall to see him in action, instantly putting his 'bad guy' attitude up. After a couple punches and threatening them, they spilled everything he needed to know.

Which was to find his counterpart.

She quickly went up to him after the men had left, "So, there's another you here?"

"From what it sounds like. They said he always hangs out at some bar a few blocks away from here."

She looked at Gajeel up and down, "I wonder if the other you knows how to style his hair."

He glared at her, "Fuck off."

/././././.

"So, let me get this straight. You guys come from another world?" Lucy asked, her eyes looking at them skeptically. To her, the story sounded ridiculous. But the guy standing in front of her wasn't her Natsu.

Wendy nodded at her in confirmation and then looked at her friends. Natsu was still staring where a girl that was the counterpart of Lisanna, the childhood friend that passed away two years ago, stood. Tessa was looking at the rest of the guild and Laxus was looking anywhere but at the Aria that had kissed him.

Whom had been beyond embarrassed after finding out that wasn't really her husband.

 _I wonder where is my double_ , Tessa thought to herself. She looked at Lucy, "We need to find our friends and get out of here."

"Most likely they're in the Royal City," Levy explained, "The kingdom has been creating animas to absorb magical energy to sustain the kingdom by creating the energy into a lacrima. We are the only guild left and magic it's scarce here."

Laxus had finally gotten over his embarrassment, "Then let's go to the city."

Lucy's eyes widened, "Are you insane? That is a suicide miss—"

The guild doors were propped open with a bang, Nab looking at everyone as terror filled his eyes.

"A FAIRY HUNTER IS NEAR!"

Tessa wasn't sure how to even describe the terror and panic that quickly arose in the guild. Everyone was running around, Levy frantically jumping at a machine she had previously been working on. She felt Wendy wrap her arms around her waist and she held her.

"What the hell is going on?" Laxus growled out.

A woman, that they guessed was Wendy's Edolas version, scoffed at him.

"We are a dark guild, the last one standing. The Fairy Hunters are at fault that there are not any mage guilds left and we no longer have a master."

The guild rumbled and started shaking under their feet. Tessa yelped as she felt herself being elevated, her arms still gripping Wendy tightly with Carla on tow.

"This feels so weird!" She gasped out as her vision started to change.

"Everyone, hold on to something!" Lucy called out as she grabbed to one of the pillars in the room.

Natsu's eyes widened as he turned green, "Oh no! This is a vehicle!"

Tessa's eyes widened at hearing Natsu so she started to breathe in deeply and continuously say to herself that it _wasn't_ a vehicle.

"Natsu!" Happy yelled out as he tried to hold on to something.

Laxus turned around to see Edolas Aria trying to reach one of the tables as the gravity started to change more drastic and the shaking worsened. He got a hold of her and closed his eyes as he felt his body shifting.

What had felt an eternity, it had only lasted less than a minute. The moment they felt they were not floating anymore, everyone crashed onto the ground. Laxus had shifted himself so Aria wouldn't fall on the hard floor and he could see that Tessa had done the same with Wendy.

Tessa groaned as she put a hand to her head as everyone started getting up. During the commotion, her bun had come undone, now her golden brown hair falling over her shoulders.

"Are you ok Wendy?" She asked the young girl. Wendy looked up, clearly worried about her.

"You shouldn't have taken the fall! If only I had my magic, I would check you right now."

Tessa brushed her off, "I'm fine, don't worry." She saw Laxus helping Aria get up and quickly stepping away. She was worried since she saw the young woman place a hand on her belly quickly.

Lucy rushed to her, "Are you ok? Do you need me to contact Laxus?"

Just hearing that it made current Laxus feel weird.

Aria shook her head, "I'm fine. The baby is fine. He just started moving around a lot when I started to elevate."

Tessa's eyes widened as she went up to her, "You're having a boy?"

She knew this wasn't her Aria, but seeing this version of her, someone that didn't go through the nightmares that her friend had, made her feel happy and right away protective. She shot a glance at Laxus and he had frozen on his spot too. Aria turned to smile at her, but her eyes widened in horror and stepped back.

"Y-you!"

Lucy was confused, but when she turned around to look at Tessa, her eyes widened as well. Every single member started backing away from her, some in fear, some in anger, and some in shock. Tessa looked down at herself, but her purple tunic was still in place. She didn't understand what was going on.

Laxus saw the movement from the corner of his eye and interjected it right away. Droy had brought out a weapon and tried going towards Tessa, who was still confused on why people were looking at her funny. Laxus grabbed his wrist and punched him in his stomach, making Droy tumble over in pain.

"Why are you guys acting like this?" Natsu asked, as he had finally felt his stomach going back to normal and getting in front of Tessa.

"She's a fairy hunter!" Someone from the crowd cried out.

Carla walked up, "We just told you we are not from here!"

Edolas Mira stepped forward, "Everyone calm down! She is not her. She proved that the moment she came in. Look at her. She's not her."

Lucy took a deep breath and looked at Tessa again. She wanted to scream and jump and kill her. But it wasn't her. The similarities were all there. The hair, the body shape, literally every single detail. They even held the same name but she hadn't paid mind to it until now that the woman's hair was framing her face.

Except one thing. The eyes. They didn't have a thirst for blood. They were green as well, but there was nothing malicious about the girl.

"The Fairy Hunters are sisters and two of some of the commanders of the Royal City. They kill with no mercy those who are in magical guilds. They killed our master right in front of us. Erza and Tessa Knightwalker."

Tessa's eyes widened in horror.

 _I'm… I'm a killer in this world?_

Natsu put a strong hand on her shoulder and Wendy quickly held her hand. She was having a hard time to believe that she… that her counterpart was a vicious killer. She had never killed anyone before, but if she were to do so, it would be to protect her family. Never for fun or for duty. It was sickening.

"We need to get to the Royal City then. There's no doubt that's where everyone's at." Laxus said seriously as he crossed his arms.

"Again with that?" Lucy snapped at him, "It'll be impossible to get there. It'll take you days to reach the Royal City!"

Natsu snarled, "We don't care! We are Fairy Tail wizards! We don't leave our own behind."

Laxus started walking towards the door, "Let's go Natsu."

He didn't glance at Aria again as he walked outside to wait for the others. Carla, Wendy, and Tessa followed through, also not looking over at the rest. Just as Natsu was going to leave, he turned to a shaken Aria.

"In our world, Aria and Tessa are the best of friends."

Happy nodded from his side, "Our Tessa is nothing like the one here."

Aria smiled, whatever fear she had felt fading away. She rubbed her belly contently, "Are your Aria and Laxus together too?"

Both of their eyes widened widely and they looked at each other, not sure how to answer.

"HURRY UP NATSU!" Laxus' booming voice came from outside. Natsu yelped and quickly ran out with Happy on tow.

The Edolas Fairy Tail guild stood there, dumbfounded at what had happened. There was no way they would reach the city, let alone fight the army to save their friends.

But for some reason, Lucy and Aria believed that they could.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Out

Tessa officially had enough of this world. All she wanted to do was find her friends and get the hell out of there. She wanted to be home and take a long hot bath by herself and sleep for two days. Or maybe go on a job. Anything to make her forget Edolas.

Natsu had been running after a frog when it turned into a ginormous monster and chased them. Edolas Lucy had to appear to save them and offered to walk them to Louden. Now _that_ had made her feel pretty dumb. She couldn't imagine how a certain lightning mage felt over that either.

Lucy gave them more insight on the use of magic in the world and how now black markets were being constantly shut down to prevent the use of it. She offered to take them into the city at one of her particularly favorite underground shop.

Tessa was impressed by the amount of respect the shopkeeper held towards Lucy. The young woman had protected him from getting arrested and from getting his items taken away. They rummaged for a while through everything until each of them were able to find different magic weapons to use.

Neither of the four Earthland wizards were impressed by the amount of magic the weapons held. It was insignificant compared to theirs. Laxus had gotten an electric type sword, Natsu a rod of fire, Wendy had a wind cannon, and Tessa had a long staff. Lucy stretched out the importance of not showing the weapons out in public, since guards would immediately confiscate them and imprison them.

That's how it dawned on Laxus that their magic came from items, not from within them like they did.

It was when they were about to leave the shop when they had heard the familiar pissed off yelling from a certain celestial wizard, who was being arrested by soldiers.

Natsu was going to save her, how he tend to do. But the surprise was on him and the others when Lucy had opened up a celestial gate.

 _We have to depend on blondie now_? Laxus thought with a grimace as he saw the soldiers being taken down.

—-

Gajeel was definitely in cloud nine. His edolas self was nothing like him but at the same time, he was just like him. The way they would think, the way they would talk, how they planned things. Everything was basically the same. Edolas Gajeel just lacked a more of a gruff voice, more muscle mass, and the piercings, but that's about it.

Aria had barely gotten a few words in the conversation the moment they had found the other Gajeel at the bar. Both men were too busy asking each other questions to even pay attention to her. She however, didn't complain. He was known to be a journalist, the type that it was important to give the truth to the people. Anything that would happen, he made sure the world would know about it. However because of this, he had gained various enemies throughout the years. As she let them talk, her mind wandered to the remaining of the dragon slayers. Mystogan suspected that due to them being dragon slayers, they would not have been affected by the lacrima. Now she wondered where the others could be. For some reason the thought of Laxus and Tessa together made her cringe.

The lightning mage was someone difficult to travel with sometimes. Tessa's personality is far too hyper and bubbly during the day, a huge contrast from the other man. That is if she was in a good mood. If for some unknown reason those two were traveling together, she wasn't sure who to feel bad for.

They talked and exchanged information for a while more, forming a plan of action once they would meet again in the Royal City in two days and then they parted ways. Edolas Gajeel offered them a way of transportation so it would be easier for them the day before their meeting. Neither Gajeel or Aria had been happy about it. They felt queasy most of the time and headaches were developing when the day had come and they had to leave.

But the moment they reached the Royal City, their eyes had widened.

Even with the night sky they could see the splendor of it. Some of the buildings and houses still had some light in them. It was huge.

They weren't sure if they could be able to find an inn to spend the night at, so they opted out on finding a spot outside of the city to go to sleep. It had been secluded enough, the small cave giving them enough protection if a sand storm would appear.

"You think we will find them?" Aria asked as she had her arms behind her head, enjoying the view of the stars and moons above her. As confusing as this world was, she admitted to herself that it was rather beautiful in its own way. She never expected her experience with Fairy Tail have her end up in a parallel universe.

He was in a similar position but with his eyes closed. That was something he still even asked himself. Would he find them? More specifically, would he find Tessa. He almost growled at himself for thinking of her so much. He wasn't sure what it was about her, but he felt something pulling him towards her. Since the moment he met her, he was curious about her. Then the master requested for them to train with each other and he jumped right in.

His face had been neutral, but inside there was a weird excitement with the thought of training with the woman.

Distance wise, she was dangerous. Her glass daggers, her lance. But he saw the struggle that Aria had mentioned with hand to hand. So he decided to do something that was completely out of the norm for him. He decided to help her. Something about the idea of her getting beaten and no way of fully defending herself even if she was a dragon slayer it didn't sit well with him. She had improved in a month. She was a fast learner and was always looking for ways to improve. She talked to him like if he was someone she had known for a long time. She trusted him completely. Why, he wasn't sure. But it was evident every single time he would look in her eyes.

And then the news of the Oracion Seis happened. He had heard all about Cobra and the rest of them. They were deadly, but they had been taken down by them. The fact that Tessa was capable of destroying Midnight's illusion really said a lot about her power. He had felt proud.

He wasn't sure why. She was just another guild member.

But as he opened his eyes and looked at the starry sky, he knew it wasn't true. There was something about her. Maybe because she not once has ever treated him like a monster? Or someone to stay away from? She was always friendly, she always smiled when she would see him. Even when he would give her short responses, she knew exactly what he meant and would reply without an issue. She knew exactly what he had done to the guild, his past, yet she had just accepted him like nothing.

Besides, he couldn't deny the fact that she was breathtakingly beautiful. At least in his eyes she was. From watching her, he had learned all her little kinks. When she was thinking, when she was happy, he had paid attention to everything and he couldn't figure out why he was so compelled by her.

He couldn't understand what it was and he was not going to try to figure it out. At least not now. His main focus, like Aria, was to find them and take them back to Earthland.

"We will. If we have to fight every single bastard here to find them, we will."

She smirked at that. Before she fell asleep, she hoped that Tessa and Wendy were okay if they had made it in Edolas.

—-

The following morning, they wasted no time to get inside the city again. There was music and food everywhere, like if the townsfolk were preparing for a huge festival. They could see the excited faces every single person had that they passed by. A few hours seemed to go by, but the excitement hadn't died down.

"I wonder what the hell is making everyone so excited," he whispered to her as they walked closely to each other through the crowd.

She hated the feel in her stomach, "I have a bad feeling about this."

They saw the other Gajeel at a distance as they moved through the crowds. Aria had never used her keen hearing so much until now. Everything that the people were saying, what the soldiers were saying, every single voice and conversation she tried listening to it as much as possible.

When they finally saw it, they felt sick to their stomachs.

A gigantic blue lacrima stood in the center of the plaza. It was glowing with the sun as it had various soldiers surrounding it. She had never felt so angry before. It didn't matter that she had barely been with them for a short amount of time. They were her family now and she just knew they were in there.

She didn't notice she had taken a step forward when Gajeel grasped her arm. She turned to look at him and she almost jumped at the intensity of his stare. His crimson eyes had taken a darker hue as he narrowed his eyes at the lacrima. For the first time, she felt intimidated by his piercings.

If anyone would pay attention, they would see the two dark auras coming from them.

The king had appeared to make a ridiculous speech and they moved through the crowds again. Guards were everywhere, making it difficult to even get close enough to the lacrima.

She looked around, trying to find a good spot for the both of them when her eyes landed on the clock tower near the plaza. Gajeel followed her lead, nodding in approval at the highest point.

They watched for a while, until they both saw his double nodding towards the other side of the plaza.

That was what they needed.

Thanks to the crowd, it took them a bit longer to get to the other side of the plaza. Once they did, they noticed that it wasn't as heavily guarded as the other sides.

Gajeel smirked as he put a hand on his cloak to remove it, "Show time."

—

"When I find that runt I'm going to fucking kill him myself if he's not already dead," Laxus said angrily as they walked through the streets of the crowded city. Tessa wished she could punch Natsu hard on the face as well, but she had a feeling if Laxus didn't turn down his anger she had a feeling he would be the first one landing a hard punch on the pink haired kid.

She was extremely worried as they walked around the streets. After finding their Lucy and spending the night at Louden, the following morning had already started off with an off foot. Edolas Lucy had abandoned them, but wishing them luck against the Royal Army. Their one way of transportation had been sabotaged and they had been surrounded, even with Lucy's spirits. It had been someone driving a red car that had saved them.

It was more shocking when it had been Edolas Natsu. Who was literally nothing like their Natsu. A hardass inside the wheels but a pansy out of them. Laxus had even felt sorry for the poor guy. But he had done them a huge favor in behalf of Edolas Lucy and left them in the outskirts of the city. They had been excited and quickly went in to figure out what it was all about. They saw the whole celebration and came across the lacrima. Laxus had to help Lucy from keeping Natsu form doing something idiotic. He could understand the younger man's anger. Everyone they knew were inside of that lacrima. Eventually they had stayed at a run down inn to not catch attention and try to come up with a plan.

However, Laxus and Tessa had been left behind. They had found a note from Lucy stating that they had decided to check out the back part of the castle and that they would be back before sundown.

They never did.

Tessa had taken a huge liking to Wendy, already seeing her as a little sister after the time they had spent training with Aria. Knowing that something could have happened to the young girl because of some dumb idea either Lucy or Natsu had made her blood boil.

"I can't believe we didn't feel them leave," She said to him as she strained her eyes in hopes on seeing the pink haired man somewhere in the crowd.

"We should hurry! They're about to start the activation of the lacrima!" She whirled her head around as soon as she heard that. It was a group of three men, hunched together as they excitedly started running.

"Alright! We get magic for another ten years!"

Laxus' eyes flashed when he heard them, "We need to move. Now."

—-

Aria's golden eyes widened as they had gotten close enough to see the lacrima starting to glow. The cheers of the crowd were getting louder, the anticipation reaching a new level within the crowd. They had heard all the talks. Thanks to the King they were going to have ten more years of magic.

Magic from their home.

The closer they tried getting, the more people they were encountering. It was making it difficult for them to move.

"There's no way we can attack," Aria whispered to him, "The people here would get badly hurt. I don't care about the soldiers, but the civilians is a whole different story."

However, the sound of fireworks gave them the exact diversion that they needed. The soldiers were confused about the fireworks but that was shoved aside by the increase of the crowd's cheers. The fireworks spelled 'north.' They started moving through the crowd again when Gajeel loudly called out.

"That looks like a warning! The North side of the lacrima needs more protection!"

Aria was about to tell him it was not going to work, but her eyes shot up in surprise when she saw many of the soldiers taking off to the North side while the remaining soldiers started pushing everyone back.

Neither Gajeel or Aria moved. A soldier yelled at them, but as she glanced at Gajeel she couldn't help but grin as well as she saw the look on his face.

They removed their cloaks and made their move. Aria immediately let out a blast of thunder to push the soldiers back, giving Gajeel enough room to move forward. He dashed quickly, his arm converting into complete iron. The soldiers gasped in shock and fear, many of them crying out as they were hit by her magic.

" _Iron Dragon Sword!_ " He yelled as he stabbed the lacrima with his right arm. Pieces of it flew out everywhere and she smiled.

The soldiers were astonished, but their shock quickly faded away and started to make their move. Aria didn't let them get near Gajeel as he made work of the lacrima. Her entire body was covered in her thunder as she kicked and punched them away. She turned to look back at Gajeel to see that the lacrima was still standing. She knew she couldn't form a weapon like Tessa or Gajeel, so she opted out to something different the moment Gajeel raised his iron sword again.

" _Thunder Dragon Wing Attack!_ "

And as the impact of the power of both slayers hit the lacrima, it finally started shining brightly, its light covering the entire plaza.

It took a while, but as the bright light started to fade away, it showed two forms laying on the floor. Aria was surprised, since she expected to everyone to have been in there due to the massiveness of the lacrima.

"That's Erza and Gray!" She said as she finally recognized who was laying on the floor. They got up slowly and as they opened their eyes, they were confused to see the mass of people and soldiers in front of them.

"I'll get them, cover me!"

She nodded at him and then turned around and glared at the hoard of soldiers that was approaching them to detain them.

She didn't give them a chance to brace themselves. She filled her lungs with air and let it out.

/./././.

Tessa's eyes shone brightly as she recognized the dragon roar from a distance. They weren't far from the central plaza. Aria was here and she seemed to have her magic. Tessa wasn't sure how that was even possible, but she was relieved that at least someone besides Lucy had retained their magic power.

"Let's go this way!" Laxus called out to her. She turned around and she followed him. They ran through the alleys until they finally came across a very confused Erza and Gray talking to Gajeel.

Tessa's eyes widened as she saw him, happiness overwhelming her.

"Gajeel!"

The man stopped mid sentence as he was filling in Erza and Gray while Aria took care of the soldiers to buy them time. He tried ignoring the way his heart skipped a beat the moment he heard her voice. He turned around and grinned at her. She wasted no time and hugged him tightly as she jumped on him when she was close enough. She knew what she was doing but she didn't care. She breathed in his scent, any worry that she had felt dispersing the moment she saw him. He was startled, not sure what to do as the smaller woman had a strong grip on him.

"Wow other me, you didn't say you had a girlfriend."

Tessa blinked as she slowly let go of Gajeel and looked over his shoulder. Her eyes widened as she looked at Gajeel's Edolas version. She instantly blushed and stepped away from Gajeel.

Gajeel gave him a look as he restrained the blush that wanted to spread all over his face, "She's not my girlfriend."

E. Gajeel gave him a look like he didn't believe him. His eyes turned to Tessa and grinned, "Pleasure to meet you."

She could only blinked as she stared at him. He was nothing like her Gajeel but they kind of were. E. Gajeel was more laid back as he stood in his dark suit with a hat over his short curly hair. The contrast was immense between them, but they both wore the exact same grin.

 _This is giving me a headache!_ She thought to herself.

E. Gajeel continued to explain to them that they had thought that the lacrima in the plaza contained everyone from Fairy Tail, but it only had Erza and Gray. Laxus was surprised. He could not imagine the monstrosity of size of the other lacrima that held everyone else.

"If the dragon slayers were not turned into the lacrima," Erza started.

"That must mean they're the only ones capable of destroying the bigger one," Gray finalized as he looked at three of the slayers in front of him.

Speaking of dragon slayers, Tessa thought to herself, "Have you seen Natsu or Wendy? Or Lucy, Happy, and Carla?" She asked as she looked at Gajeel.

Gajeel shook his head but he then turned towards the castle, "How much you guys wanna bet those idiots got themselves captured?"

No one decided to argue on that. The likeliness of that happening were too high.

"How does Aria have her magic?" Laxus asked as he continued hearing her thunder in the background. Two things kept running through his head. She had magic and she was fighting soldiers on her own.

Gajeel smirked as he pulled out a glass bottle with small round pills in them, "Mystogan gave me these when he found us after the anima took the whole town. Here, take one."

The moment they started to chew, each of them started welcoming the feel of their magic energy traveling through their veins.

"We need to form a plan," Erza said quickly, "If they are inside the castle, we are going to need as much muscle as we can."

Laxus mentally rolled his eyes. There went his plan to join Aria with the fight against the soldiers.

Tessa was having similar thoughts. She wanted to join her friend, but she wanted to make sure Wendy was safe. Gajeel caught on to her internal battle and decided to form a plan himself.

"You four go in there and look for them. I'll stay behind with Aria and we will hold it down here and look for the other lacrima. If Wendy and Natsu are down, at least they'll have two dragon slayers backing them up."

Neither of them objected and quickly took off.

—- - - -

The moment they got inside the walls of the castle, Laxus sent out a lightning attack followed by a blast from Gray. Tessa and Erza quickly formed weapons and sliced away. Tessa had barely heard the faint scream of Happy, so she had told them which way to go. The soldiers were being taken down with ease, not used to fighting beings that had their own magic within them instead of weapons.

They fought their way through when Tessa heard a bigger scream from Carla.

She turned to Laxus and pointed at the wall, "They're in there!"

He nodded at her and with a closed fist, he punched right through the concrete wall. Electric sparks bounced off everywhere as dust filled the entire stone like hallway they were on.

Edolas Erza turned around, shock as she saw the wall crumbling down, "What is happening?!"

Lucy's eyes widened as she saw the electrical sparks.

"T-That's Laxus' magic!" Happy said excitedly, but he quickly groaned in pain as he fell on his knees in front of Carla. She got up and grabbed him, putting an arm over her shoulders to sustain him.

"You have some nerve attacking our own," Tessa growled as she came into view. Slowly Laxus, Erza, and Gray appeared from within the smoke. The two Erzas quickly made eye contact and neither were turning away.

"Those that hurt our guild members will have the wrath of others fall upon them."

Lucy had chills run down her spine as she heard the ferocity of Erza's voice. She had only heard it a few times, but never how she was hearing it in that moment. She had felt it was it for them, for Happy who had stood in front of Carla and her to protect them as much as he could. She was battered, cuts and bruises all over her while having her hands tied up still. Her eyes welled up in tears. She had heard the painful screams of Natsu and Wendy and she had felt all hope leaving her.

 _Not anymore_ , she thought as she saw Gray letting out the first attack, _We are going to be okay_.

Tessa rushed to Lucy while the soldiers and the other Erza were occupied with the other three. She materialized a glass dagger and ripped the restraints of her wrists.

"Don't ever go on your own again," She said as she put Lucy's arm around her, "Or I swear I will steal all of your clothes when we are back home."

Lucy winced as she laughed, "I'll remember that for next time."

"Where are Wendy and Natsu?"

However, her question was answered by hearing Natsu scream in agony and anger.

Laxus came from behind Tessa and took a hold of Lucy, placing her on his back. Gray already had both Happy and Carla on his arms as well.

Tessa raised an eyebrow at Laxus, "You're not going to help Erza?"

"Finding Natsu and Wendy is more important," he said, "Besides, there's no way in hell I'm getting in the middle of that."

She gawked at him and she looked at Gray expecting him to say otherwise.

He shook his head, "I'm with him on this one. Screw that."

They ran down the dark stoned hallway, trying to hear for any more screams of Natsu and Wendy. They were able to explain to Lucy how Gajeel and Aria had destroyed the lacrima, setting free both Gray and Erza.

"Ohhh," Lucy said, "So that's what Mystogan gave me for my magic to work."

Laxus was tempted to drop her in that moment.

"Gajeel and Aria are outside fighting the soldiers and looking for the other one while we came to search for all of you," Gray said as he put Happy and Carla down. Both exceed's eyes widened as he said that.

"I know where it is! I can take them!"

Tessa looked at the battered cat, "Happy, are you sure?"

He nodded, "You find them and help them! I got this!"

And with that, the small blue cat took off flying down the hallway.

They ran through several hallways until they finally came across a door. Gray had quickly kicked it open and they were surprised when they saw both Natsu and Wendy out cold on the floor. Laxus let Lucy down and she ran straight to Natsu. Tessa didn't waste any time and she went to Wendy, trying to shake her to wake her up. Laxus brought out the pills that Gajeel had given them and gave one to Natsu and then Wendy.

Natsu was the first one to awake, quickly angered as the events of everything he had heard and what was done to him and Wendy. He roared and took off, not even giving them a second glance.

"Stupid pyro," Laxus said under his breath. He knew which direction Natsu had gone, now it was just a matter of time for him to come back again.

Carla kept a hold of Wendy's hand as she cried and apologized over and over. Tessa wasn't sure what the cat was apologizing for, but before she could ask, Wendy started to wake up. She was in a lot of pain and as Tessa put a hand on her forehead, the poor girl was sweating immensely.

"Can you hear me?" Tessa asked softly. The young girl opened her eyes slowly and looked at her.

"T-t… Tessa?"

The woman grinned, "Hey!"

"Th… The others are in trouble…" Wendy sat up and she was filled with sadness and desperation as she looked at all of them, rivers of her tears coming down her cheeks.

"The king! He gave the order to use the larger lacrima to destroy Extalia. All of our friends are in grave danger of being destroyed forever! They're thinking of firing the power they got from me and Natsu to the island of the lacrima so it could set a course towards Extalia!"

/./././.—

"They're okay then?" Aria asked as she punched a soldier away from her. She had been surprised when Gajeel had returned by himself.

"Salamander, Wendy, and Lucy got themselves captured. The others went to check out the inside the castle and rescue them."

He grinned as the soldiers approached him, but took them down with ease with his iron club.

Aria's worriedness had faded away somewhat. She knew they would be okay, but now there was the matter of finding the larger lacrima and setting everyone free again. Hoards of soldiers kept coming at them, not backing down as both slayers took down their forces. It wasn't until they had been fighting for a while and searching, that Happy came soaring down on them. He took a hold of Gajeel and Gajeel took a hold of Aria's wrist. Happy grunted at the weight, but didn't deter his speed as he flew upwards.

"I know where the other lacrima is!" He said loudly as he tried to hide his pain, "I'll take you there so you can set everyone free!"

Aria's heartbeat started going faster and faster as she saw the distance she was at and where the ground was.

"You better not drop me metal head or I swear I will castrate you!" She said from her spot.

Before Gajeel could reply to her, his eyes widened as the island came into view with the lacrima standing on it. The lacrima they had destroyed at the plaza was nothing compared to the size of this one. Happy had them land on the ground and Aria whistled.

"Well, this is going to be lovely."

"This shit is massive," Gajeel commented as he took in the size of it. There was no way a simple attack would destroy it. They would need to use as much of their power as possible.

However, just before either of them could get to work, an attack was sent their way by a massive sword. Aria took a hold of Happy and rolled out of the way. When she turned to look at their attacker, her eyes widened.

"Panther Lily, I thought your aim was better than that."

The huge muscular black cat grunted as he placed the sword on his shoulder with ease, "Well, I didn't want to get rid of them with a simple blow."

The woman laughed as she jumped down from a flying creature and evilly smirked at them. Her golden brown hair was cut in a pixie hairstyle. Her green eyes watching them carefully as she held two long swords on each hand, each made out of glass. Standing in a bikini like armor, there was Edolas Tessa glaring at them.

"T-Tessa?" Aria quietly said as she looked at the woman. She looked exactly like her except for the hair.

The woman quirked an eyebrow at her, "I am Tessa Knightwalker. Second in command to Erza Knightwalker. We are known as the Fairy Hunters. This is Captain Panther Lily."

Aria swallowed as she analyzed both of them, "So much for this being easy."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Aria v. Tessa

Both Aria and Gajeel quickly brought forth their dragon slayer magic aura, engulfing them powerfully as they stared at their opponents. Happy didn't know what to do, so for the meanwhile he resorted on hiding behind one of the rock pillars to cover himself. He had seen the other dragon slayers in action, but this was the first time he was going to see Aria in a fight that wasn't a spar.

Panther Lily was the first one to make a move, using his enormous sword to slice away at them. They moved out of the way as the piece of the island that they had just been standing on, was sliced off and crumbling down.

E. Tessa took advantage of their distraction and dashed forward, using one sword to slash at Aria and the other one at Gajeel. Aria ducked down and Gajeel covered his arms in his iron to block her attack. Before he could retaliate, Panther Lily came down flying with an attack on his own, sending both dragon slayers clashing into one another on the ground, creating a crater.

"You're fucking heavy, get off me." Aria grunted from underneath. E. Tessa and Panther Lily looked at them, her face not impressed by any means by them.

"If I knew they were not going to be a challenge, I would've left them just for you."

Panther Lily glared at them, "Don't put your guard down. They're Earthland Wizards."

Aria and Gajeel panted but quickly dashed forward. Panther Lily took to the skies in an instant, but Happy came flying and took a hold of Gajeel, taking him to take the fight to the skies.

"You haven't stopped staring at me," E. Tessa commented, "Do I remind you of someone?"

"Shut your mouth," Aria growled as she did a combo of kicks, but Tessa had blocked every single one. One of her long swords glowed brightly and unleashed a powerful blow of magic at Aria, sending her flying and slamming against the lacrima.

Aria felt enraged. She snarled loudly as she dashed forward again, " _Thunder Dragon Roar!_ "

E. Tessa's eyes widened as she saw and heard the clash of thunder going directly towards her. In the skies, Panther Lily's eyes widened and both Gajeel and Happy saw it. She raised her swords in form of a shield to brace herself from the attack. As the dust faded away, she had no time to react when Aria had landed a kick on her, sending her flying towards Gajeel's direction.

"GET HER!" Aria yelled at him from her spot. Gajeel's eyes widened as E. Tessa had been kicked in his direction. She was wide open for an attack. He grabbed her by the throat, but just as he was about to slam her into the ground under him, she opened his eyes and he froze completely. It didn't matter if this was another version of her, they were still _her_ eyes.

His hesitation cost him greatly as Panther Lily was able to land a hit on him with his fist. He took a hold of E. Tessa as he saw the iron dragon slayer and cat crash onto the ground. Aria winced at the force of the punch and ran to him. He was groaning as he held his head with Happy tenderly holding his tail.

"What the fuck was that? I sent her right at you! You could've taken her down with one blow!"

He wasn't meeting her gaze. That made her angrier, "That's not Tessa. You've sparred with her before. I don't understand why you're having issues with hitting her now. It's not like you l—"

She stopped suddenly as her eyes widened in realization. It would explain his hesitation and the way he had immediately gone after Panther Lily.

"Huh," she said as she placed both hands on her hips, "So my suspicions were right after all."

His head turned so fast to look at her he almost gave himself whiplash, "W-what?!"

Happy snickered, completely forgetting about the pain in his tail, "You loooooove her!"

The way Gajeel blushed and started sputtering just made it worse for him. There was no way in hell he had feelings for Tessa.

Aria decided that now was not the time to tease the man, "Get your head out of your ass. This isn't her. The real Tessa is better than this. This is a trashy copy."

The clicking of heels made Aria turn around. E. Tessa was glaring furiously at her, "Trashy copy?"

Aria smirked as she cracked her knuckles, "You heard me right."

—- - -

Laxus leaned against the stone wall as he heard Carla telling Tessa everything about the exceeds and their supposed mission. The other three had taken off to find the King, and he was going with them as well. But it was when he heard Wendy telling Carla what she wanted to do and hearing her ask Tessa to come with her, he decided to stay back.

He liked the kid and he knew she probably could hold her own a bit. However, she was still recovering from the torturing she had been put through. Tessa would only be able to defend her but not retaliate fully if they were to be attacked. After he had heard what Carla had said about the exceeds, he knew it was not going to be pretty for the exceed to get back up to Extalia.

"But how are we going to get there?" Tessa asked, "Lightbulb over here is with us now. That's too much weight for Carla."

His eyebrow twitched at the nickname, "I can teleport all of you up there. It's right above us right?"

Wendy blinked at the taller man and nodded, "Yeah, it is."

"Then let's go, there's no time to waste."

Wendy held on to his arm and Tessa wrapped her arms around her. _There's no way I'm holding on to him like that. Aria can say what she wants, but she would murder me,_ she thought to herself. Carla grabbed on to his other hand and suddenly all of them were covered by his lightning.

In a blink of an eye, they landed in the middle of a street in Extalia.

The exceeds gasped loudly as they saw the electrical sparks from the dragon slayer. Some were cowering in fear, others were yelling at them already in disgust and anger.

"That's the fallen!"

"Why is she with the humans?"

"They're so disgusting looking!"

"Get them out of here!"

Wendy flinched at their words but didn't let them get to her, "Please! We must speak to your Queen! All of you are in danger right now!"

Her voice was still raw from her previous screams, but she was desperate for them to hear her out. Carla continued, "The Royal Army turned the Exceed Army into a lacrima!"

A brown cat scoffed at them, "Our army defeated by the likes of you? You're delusional."

Laxus' patience was running thin. Tessa felt his aura spark from behind her and she quickly turned around.

"Look here nightlight," she started as she poked him with a finger, "You need to learn to be patient! You need a LOT of patience with Aria too! You can't let some harmless cats—"

She was interrupted as a rock hit her right on the head. She whirled around quickly and yelled at the cats.

"Which one of you did that?!"

Her answer was more exceeds tossing rocks at them. Wendy and Carla pleaded for them to stop and to listen to them. Tessa grabbed both of them and created a glass like box to protect them from the blows.

"What are we going to do? They're not listening!"

Laxus rolled his eyes. He told Tessa to remove the barrier and he stepped forward, his lightning circling around him. He kept his hands inside his pockets as he glared at the cats.

"You furballs are pretty damn ballsy to be throwing rocks at us," He said seriously as his lightning started scaring the exceeds and stopping their attacks, "Let us speak to your Queen unless you want to die."

—- - - -

Aria had noticed that whenever her thunder would rumble, Gajeel would gain the upperhand. She came to the conclusion that the big exceed hated the sound of thunder. She made sure every attack would rumble loudly to help out Gajeel in the distance.

She had gotten successful and destroyed one of E. Tessa's swords, leaving her with just one. However, destroying the sword had left a deep gash on her left forearm and droplets of blood kept flying everywhere whenever she would attack E. Tessa. She started using her speed more, transforming into her thunder form and slamming into E. Tessa as much as she could. E. Tessa covered herself as much as she could until she saw an opening on Aria. She jumped in the air and hit Aria on her back right shoulder with the hilt of her sword that had a small blade right on her back. She skidded on the floor towards the edge after the impact, desperately trying to hold on to a rock. She slipped off and she barely got a hold of the edge of the island with her injured arm and grunted. She could feel the blood dripping from her back where the smaller blade had dug in.

She was going to pull herself up, but she screamed in agony as she felt a sharp heel digging in her knuckle.

"Hm. You're powerful. But still weak compared to me," E. Tessa sneered as she pressed her heel deeper through the flesh of Aria's hand.

"Your friends will crash against Extalia and they will die. Edolas will forever have magic to sustain it and there is nothing that you can do about it. Your other friends will die at the hands of the rest of the Royal Army Captains."

Aria winced as she glared at her, "Y-you're wrong! I'm going to slam your head into the ground!"

E. Tessa laughed, "You would have to get up here f—"

The woman didn't finish as a blur of black slammed into her with such force and pushed her away.

Aria gasped since she knew the heel was the only thing anchoring her from falling, but now that she was gone, Aria had lost the feel of her hand. As she felt herself slipping, she felt someone grabbing her shoulders and pulling her up.

She turned around and sighed in relief, "Happy!"

"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Panther Lily wouldn't let me."

He placed her on the ground and she hissed as she held her hand, "How did you then?"

"Gajeel destroyed his sword! He then punched him and sent him crashing against the fake Tessa."

Aria turned to see Gajeel walking up to them, his famous smirk plastered on his face as he cracked his knuckles.

"You good to continue?"

E. Tessa's angry screech because her last sword was broken made her grin.

"Like never before."

Both slayers ran to them and started battling it out with hand to hand combat. Panther Lily discarded his armor, making his movements faster than what they already were before. E. Tessa was furious that both of her weapons had been broken, her anger giving her attacks the energy that they needed. However, Aria started to notice flaws in the other woman's attacks and she laughed.

"Some things never change. You still suck at throwing punches!" She roared as she connected a hit right on E. Tessa, followed by rapid kicks and punches. E. Tessa grunted and gasped in pain as she slammed into the lacrima in a sickening crack.

Gajeel was gaining the upper hand on Panther Lily when a ferocious roar was heard. It made all of them freeze in their attacks. It was loud and harsh, making Aria feel fear for an instance.

E. Tessa started chuckling evilly as she slowly stood up, "They've activated the dragon cannon. There's nothing you can do now. It's all over."

Aria's eyes flashed, " _Thunder Dragon Wing Attack!_ "

Panther Lily's eyes widened as he saw the attack connecting to E. Tessa with an intensity the attack didn't have before. He rushed to her to check out her injured form that now laid immobile on the ground.

"She's not dead," Aria said disgustingly. Happy was about to say something when suddenly, the entire island started to shake like a huge tremor.

Gajeel didn't like the sound of it, "Now what?!"

"It's the dragon hook. It's attached itself to the island," Panther Lily replied coldly as he glared at them.

The once blue lacrima started to glow in a red and orange hue. The brightness increased with huge amount of power behind it when they felt it move. Aria's eyes widened as she could see what she guessed the kingdom of Extalia just a few miles away.

"Fuck," Both her and Gajeel said at the same time.

The island started to increase speed as it made its way to its target. Aria looked at the lacrima and started to summon all of her power.

"There's no time for that!" Gajeel said as the island continued growing on speed, "Even both of us won't be able to destroy the whole thing at once."

"What are we supposed to do then? We are getting closer!"

A loud roar made them freeze followed by a familiar cry of battle. They walked over to the edge to see Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, and some girl on top of a monster flying towards them. The creature put itself between Exalia and the lacrima and slammed its head against it, trying to prevent it from going further.

But it wasn't working.

Happy quickly flew down to Natsu and both Gajeel and Aria wasted no time to follow after the exceed. Panther Lily was dumbfounded as Gajeel had called for a temporary truce.

"There's no way to stop it!" Panther Lily called out to them, but his warning fell on deaf ears.

"We are getting out of here alive," Gajeel replied before he jumped down, "And you will be coming back with me and be my cat!"

Aria halted from jumping down when she heard the slayer, "WHAT?!"

He, however, ignored her and jumped down. She looked at Panther Lily and at E. Tessa's unconscious form.

"Get her out of here."

She jumped down and she landed right next to Natsu while Gajeel landed by Erza. She summoned all her magic energy just like the fire dragon slayer and placed both of her hands on the hot surface of the island. She ignored the pain of her bleeding injuries and started pushing with the rest.

"We can't let this thing crash!" Gray yelled loudly.

"We have to do this!" Lucy grunted as she pushed.

"LET'S GO FAIRY TAIL!" Natsu roared loudly.

/././././.

Tessa's heart dropped to her stomach as she saw the energy of the lacrima approaching Extalia.

Laxus clenched his fist and started to walk that way. Carla looked at him, "Where are you going?"

"To stop this thing! You stay here and keep talking to these damn cats. I'm going down there and I'm going to help them stop this thing."

Tessa looked at him confused, "Them?"

His eyes were blazing, "We both know damn well they are there right now. You coming or staying?"

Tessa turned to look at Wendy and then at the lacrima in the distance, "Let's go!"

/././././.

Lucy was sweating profusely as she felt her arms muscles screaming in pain, "This thing is not budging!"

Aria roared as she continued to push with Natsu. She wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to continue pushing. Specially with how badly her forearm was.

The island was barely budging.

She felt her eyes burn. There was no way she could give up now. Her and Tessa had found a home finally. A family.

A hand was placed over her injured one and she gasped.

"Looks like you need a hand," a deep voice suddenly said from her right side. Her eyes widened and she turned to see Laxus smirking at her as he removed his hand from hers placed both of his hands on the island and started to push.

"Laxus…"

Aria heard Lucy gasped from her spot, "Tessa!"

Tessa grinned at her, "Wasn't going to let you guys have all the fun!"

 _They're here,_ Aria thought to herself, _they're safe.  
_  
The entire courage that the guild was known to have spread through them like hot lava in their veins. They would all lose something if the lacrima clashed into the exceed kingdom. Their friends that were now their family depended on them. It didn't matter the mistakes of the past at this moment. What mattered the most was for all of them to come together and save all of them.

The sky was lit with various forms of lights. Carla had been the first one to reach the island, and soon after that, every single exceed of Extalia flew down with the Fairy Tail guild members and started to push the gigantic island away.

Laxus genuinely smiled to see the exceeds finally cooperating. He wasn't sure what the white cat had done, but it seemed to have worked.

He felt that the others were slowly diminishing their strength and he yelled out, "WE HAVE ONE LAST SHOT!"

Erza swallowed, "LET'S GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE GOT!"

"ONE LAST PUSH!" Tessa cried out.

The magical auras from both exceeds and the humans combined and moved like the waves of the ocean around them. Their auras jumped out of their bodies and with one last final cry, they all pushed at the same time and successfully pushed the island away.

Aria couldn't believe it as her hands left the walls of the rocky island, but before anyone could cry out in victory, a bright shot of light engulfed the entire island. The wind started to blow like a tornado, making some of the exceeds fly out.

Tessa tried bracing herself as she felt the high winds, and just as she thought she would get sent flying, she felt Gajeel wrapping his arm around her waist tightly.

"You're not going anywhere!" He said as he tried using his whole strength to keep them from being thrown off.

The brightness of the island increased, and the wind did as well. It seemed to have gone for an eternity. Natsu noticed the hook dissolving into the light and he could only wonder what was happening.

His answer appeared before him not soon after. The light faded away and the lacrima of Magnolia disappeared with the light. Several of the exceeds took a hold of them, raising them to the skies to prevent them from getting sucked in when the wind had picked up. Gajeel still had a hold on Tessa as her eyes welled up in tears.

"I'm sorry for taking long," the sudden voice of Mystogan echoed in the sky. The Fairy Tail guild members turned to look at him in surprise.

"It took longer than expected to find an appropriate anima to restore Magnolia, but all of you were successful!"

Wendy's eyes widened, "Everyone is back?!"

She couldn't see it, but she knew he was smiling under his mask, "Everyone has returned to Earthland safely."

Tessa cried out happily and wrapped her arms around Gajeel's neck in celebration as the others yelled out their happiness. She realized what she did, but before she could pull back, the grip around her waist tightened and pulled her closer. He wasn't looking at her, but she could see the blush spreading softly on his cheeks. Her heart swelled with emotion and smiled brightly.

Aria smiled softly as she saw the interaction of the two of them. It seemed that the battle against E. Tessa had given him some sort of courage to express his feelings. Him not hitting the double had been louder than words and she was glad he wasn't hiding it. She turned to look at Laxus who had his arms crossed over his chest in his usual way as an exceed had a hold of him. He felt her gaze on him, but as he was turning to look at her, confusion and surprise spread through some of them as they heard Panther Lily call Mystogan his prince.

However, as they were grasping the news, a shot of energy appeared suddenly and went right through Panther Lily's stomach. Tessa felt Gajeel freeze in shock as Mystogan screaming his name echoed through the dark sky.

"Son of a bitch…" Aria whispered as the Royal Army was flying straight to them.

 _The battle isn't over yet…_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Together as one

Aria really couldn't believe their luck. Just when they felt relieved that Magnolia had gone back to Earthland, now they had the entire Royal Army right on their asses. E. Erza was coming for blood, specifically Erza's. The exceeds placed them on top of the giant winged beast that had aid them with pushing the island away from Extalia. They could hear the King's voice echoing all over but they couldn't pin point where it was coming from.

Tessa had to repeat Gajeel's name over and over for him to snap out of his shock. All he could stare at and replay in his head was when the energy blast went through his cat. He felt angry at the thought of the giant black cat being dead at the hands of a simple blast.

The magic power around them started increasing as green magic aura appeared from the ground. Its splendor started growing and the ground crumbled, revealing a mechanical type egg as the King continued to argue with Mystogan. The chains sustaining it snapped and the egg glowed until it started to shift forms until it revealed a gigantic mechanical dragon roaring at them.

The exceeds' fear increased as they came to the conclusion that it was the Dragon Knight of legend. Its red eyes glowed intensly as Mystogan explained that the scales were made out of dragon armor. Coco, a small girl that Lucy had aided when they were searching for the king, explained to them worriedly that due to the power of the lacrima scales, magical power would not do anything to the monster.

Panic spread like a wildfire when the king declared that all of the exceeds would be turned into lacrimas to sustain the magic power of Edolas.

Wendy's heart dropped the moment the first screams of despair of the exceeds reached her ears. Shots of light going directly towards the exceeds as they tried to fly away. Just when she thought they had saved them, they were now being turned into magical energy for selfish reasons. The lacrimas started falling on the sky, reminding her of teardrops as they glistened. The King unleashed his first attack directly at them but Mystogan had intercepted it with his magic circles. Those that never saw Mystogan fight were astonished at the strength of his magic power as he redirected the attack.

However, it had been futile against the King. He retaliated, blasting Mystogan with his cannon and then unleashing various attacks towards them. Coco's beast tried to move as fast as it could, trying to dodge the attacks. Each one of them were holding on to the fur of the beast but through the blasts they could still hear the desperate cries for help combined with terror from the exceeds.

Wendy's small body started to shake and she clenched her fists, "No… I won't let him…"

She acted before anyone could comprehend what she had done. She got up and jumped off the beast, directly in the direction of the King. Her body sucked in the air around her and let out the first blast against the King.

" _Sky Dragon Roar!"_

Carla's eyes widened to see Wendy being the first one to retaliate, "Wendy!"

Aria and Tessa shared a look with each other and sprinted forward, jumping off the winged beast and following Wendy's lead. Not soon after did Natsu, Gajeel, and Laxus jumped off as well.

Lucy's eyes widened to see all six of the dragon slayers unleash an attack against the mechanical silver dragon.

"Will they be okay?"

Gray smirked, "That old geezer is about to face off against six dragon slayers. What's better than fighting a dragon with those that were trained to defeat them?"

—-

The King within the dragon was astonished to see that all attacks thrown his way had done damage to his monstrosity. He was in denial to see that he had obtained damage.

"Impossible!" He roared, "This shouldn't be affected by magic!"

Laxus smirked, "There's something you need to know delusional old man. We are not normal wizards."

Natsu slammed his fist against his palm, "We are dragon slayers!"

Tessa didn't remove her green eyes from the monster, "Good job there Wendy!"

"It's all thanks to you and Aria! But I'm sure all of you can do even more damage than me!"

Aria crouched low, her fingers twitching in anticipation, "Nonsense. Let's show this bastard who he's messing with."

Gajeel's glare grew with intensity, "He's gonna regret hurting my cat. Let's do this!"

Natsu shot him a look, "I have to team up with you again? Great."

Laxus snorted, "It's not like last time you two did any good."

This earned him a glare from the other two males. Tessa and Aria rolled their eyes at them and looked at Wendy.

"Let's go Wendy!"

Wendy grinned at Aria and raised her hands, "Fast wind that run the heaven… VERNIER!"

Two magic circles appeared from underneath, one pink and the other one blue. Both women were covered in the same colored aura and dashed forward. Tessa smirked at the speed both her and Aria had obtained thanks to the younger mage.

King Faust let out an attack towards them, but both mages had easily dodged it without breaking a sweat.

" _Glass Dragon Double Swords!_ " She roared as two beautiful rainbow like swords appeared in her hands. She spun and started slashing at the metal scales. Aria used her magic to combine it with Wendy's spell to increase the intensity and strength of her kicks and punches, blue sparkles bouncing off with each attack. For a second, Aria got a flashback from the E. Tessa fight, but quickly disposed of it.

The dragon roared angrily as the attacks were connecting. The King then figured out that Wendy was the one providing the support for the other two females and went after her with his claw. Wendy was about to cast Vernier on herself when Laxus appeared at a fast speed and intercepted the attack with a severe and powerful lighting punch right to the face of the dragon. The force of it had been incredible, sending the metallic dragon flying and crashing onto the ground.

Gajeel and Natsu paired up with Tessa and Aria, both girls grabbing one of them with their arm so the two males could unleash a second wave of attacks, not leaving any space for Faust to recuperate. Natsu used his Fire Dragon Iron Fist and Gajeel used his Iron Club to demolish the back and front points of the dragon.

It took a bit, but the King was finally able to shake off Natsu and Gajeel, sending missiles towards all of them. Tessa saw the majority of the missiles going after Wendy, that she redirected herself that way after launching Gajeel to the dragon for another attack. She landed next to Wendy as the young girl casted vernier on herself, when Tessa quickly created a circled glass shield around them, both quickly getting away from the blasts.

Natsu grinned as some of the missiles found their way to him and he welcomed them with open arms. The King cackled, thinking that he had gotten one of them, but the surprise was on him when Natsu started eating the fire from the missiles.

Aria grinned and turned to Gajeel, "Yo, Gajeel. Feel hungry?" and she pointed at the tail of the dragon. Gajeel laughed and rushed forward and started munching away, but his face quickly turned into disgust.

"That shit tasted nasty," He said as he swallowed.

Natsu nodded in agreement, "The worst fire I've ever tasted."

Laxus rolled his eyes when he let his lightning covering his form and dashed at the dragon again. This time, his attacks were making a whole lot more damage than before. He wasn't holding back. Pieces of metal were flying off as he continued attacking the machine. The others couldn't even try to join on the attacks. Laxus was too fast and his attacks too intense. They could hear Faust screaming in shock and agony.

Laxus panted as he finally jumped back and they all regrouped in front of the Dorma Anim, waiting for its next move.

"The damage you did… wow…" Wendy whispered astonishment, shocked as she was seeing for the first time Laxus' power.

Natsu mockingly glared at Laxus, "Show off!"

The dragon was barely able to move as it tried getting up. Faust was beyond impressed with the strength of the slayers that he decided to turn it up a notch. The thirst for power increased and the determination to absorb the dragon slayers power started taking over him.

A dark energy surrounded him and the ground started to shake. Laxus' eyes widened at the increase of magical energy that started surrounding the beast. The shadows covered him for a couple of seconds, but when they faded away, the dragon had retained a darker and more powerful form. It now had taken a more humanoid shape, it's black scales shining.

Gajeel wasn't impressed, "You're just a bigger piece of junk old man!"

The dark dragon raised its sword and with a speed that it didn't have before, it rushed forward to them to attack. The impact of his sword collided with the ground, but its magical energy from the impact sent all of them flying away. Laxus and Natsu were the first ones to recover and launched forth with Wendy supporting them with her arms spell.

However, the dragon didn't even flinch at the force of the impact from both dragons. Natsu was the first one that he removed with ease, sending him crashing against a wall. The King took well notice that Laxus was the biggest threat, so he suddenly teleported behind the lighting dragon in less than second and punched his back, the force knocking the air out of Laxus and he slammed into a rock pillar with a sickening crack.

Aria's eyes were wide and she found herself shaking when she saw what happened. She took off immediately. Faust laughed maniacally as he raised his sword, dark purple energy enveloping and he fired.

Tessa's eyes widened and quickly raised her hands, " _Glass Dragon Wall!_ "

The familiar rainbow like wall appeared as the attack fell upon them. Tessa groaned as she felt the impact and mustered all she could to maintain it up but the sound of glass cracking made her heart stop. Gajeel saw it and quickly took a hold of Wendy and as he was about to grab Tessa, the blast broke her glass completely.

All of them screamed in agony as they were hit by the blast. The energy spread all around their area that Natsu, Laxus, and Aria got hit by it.

/./././.

Lucy Ashley wasn't sure what else she could do. For a while she had been trying to convince her fellow guildmates to join her in a fight against the Royal Army, but it was futile. All of them were too kin on staying behind. She couldn't blame them for their fear. She was beyond terrified, but she was tired of running away.

"What's will all the ruckus?" a deep voice suddenly said as he walked out of a room from inside the guild. Everyone turned around, some of them gasping to see him and Aria, with her carrying a small bundle in her arms.

Lucy's eyes widened, "Laxus," she turned to Aria, "You should be resting."

She smiled gently at her, "Kind of hard when all we can hear is arguing."

He crossed his arms and glared at Lucy, "What the hell is going on?"

Cana fanned her face as she walked up to them, "She has the ridiculous idea of joining the Earthland wizards with the fight against the Royal Army. You are one of the few that can knock some sense into her. Tell her how absurd this is!"

He looked at Cana and then at Lucy. He could see how desperate she felt. The girl hardly ever lost her cool.

"We only have enough magic to teleport once," Levy interjected from her spot by the controls, "If we do join them, we can't turn back."

Aria's face turned to look at her newborn son. She had given birth a few hours after the Earthland wizards had left the guild. Laxus had barely made it on time for the birth since they had teleported to another location. She stared at the small baby in her arms, thinking of what his future may hold.

"We fight," she whispered softly as she didn't remove her gaze from her baby, "We fight for a better future."

Laxus turned to her in surprise, but he smiled as he pulled her closer and placed a gentle hand on the child's head, "I don't think I want my son to grow up in a world that all you can do for yourself is run away."

Natsu was shocked, "But you just had a baby! How can you go into battle like that?"

And for the first time, Aria glared. The woman was always gentle, filled with compassion and serenity. Never even losing her cool with Laxus the times he was being complicated. The rest of the guild jumped at the look on her face.

"It's because of my son that I will fight."

/././.

Laxus stood up, groaning and coughing at the amount of dust in the air. He held on to his arm as he squinted, trying to see any signs of the others. Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, he saw movement. He realized that it had been Aria and he went to her. She was groaning as she laid on her stomach. Her arm was extended and he could see her forearm still bleeding. He gently turned her body so she was now facing the sky.

The woman groaned and he snapped his fingers in front of her face to make her snap out of it, "Are you ok?"

She winced but nodded nonetheless, "I think you pissed him off."

He snorted as he helped her up. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up against his chest. She hissed slightly at the pain her body felt but shook it off.

She couldn't help but grin when she saw Natsu limping towards them, "You ok pyro?"

He raised his thumb while rubbing his head, "Yeah yeah. Old man can hit hard."

He stood there for a moment, looking at both Aria and Laxus since he had yet to remove his hand from her waist when he had helped her up. Flashes of a pregnant Edolas Aria came to his head and he grinned wickedly.

"Huh, you two _do_ look good together."

Aria's eyes widened and then glared as she stepped away from Laxus, "Keep it going and I'll fry you."

Natsu laughed but abruptly stopped, "Hey! That's a good idea!"

Laxus looked at Natsu confused, "You want her to fry you?"

The fire dragon shook his head, "No! Ugh! Listen to me—you two should fry this guy!"

Aria blinked, "Whaaa…"

"He's talking about a unison raid," Laxus said as he caught on to what Natsu said. He turned to her, curious on seeing her reaction.

"A blast from you two like that should finish him off!" He grinned, clearly proud of himself for thinking of the idea.

Aria hesitantly looked at Laxus and all she could replay was her fight with him.

" _Whatever friendship we were starting to form, it's over. I'll have your back in combat because you're my guildmate, but other than that, forget that I exist._ "

She swallowed and nodded slowly, "Let's do it."

/././.

"Tessa? Can you hear me?" Gajeel softly said. He groaned as he removed some of the rock pieces that had fallen on top of him. Her and Wendy were groaning as well, their bodies screaming in pain. Tessa hissed as she felt a couple of gashes in her body.

"Are you okay?" She asked him as she sat up and held her head. She worriedly looked at Wendy, but was happy to see that the young girl was getting up as well. She couldn't imagine what would've been of them if she hadn't raised her shield.

Wendy looked at the dragon, who was slowly making its way to them, "We need to think of something!"

They stood up as fast as they could when they saw powerful electrical sparks coming from behind the dragon.

Tessa's eyes widened, "No way…"

Gajeel had a similar expression as well, "They're gonna do a unison raid."

"It was my idea!" Natsu happily said from behind them. Tessa yelped as she stared at him, "When did you get here?!"

The dark sky above them started being covered in dark clouds as the thunder rumbled loudly, the stars no longer visible. A bright golden magic circle appeared in the sky. Blue and yellow electrical sparks started appearing around it. The wind was picking up wildly, resembling that of a powerful storm.

King Faust turned around, shocked at the sudden increase of magical energy.

"What is this power?"

Laxus and Aria called their power together to merge it as one. Yellow danced around blue around them, bouncing beautifully like in a whirlpool. Laxus swallowed as he grasped her hand, their fingers interwining. She knew the severity of the situation, so any negative feelings she felt for the man went out the window and she squeezed his hands with her own. She saw his eyes shinning at that and smirked. The intensity of the sparks grew as they took a deep breath. They turned to look at Faust and both simoltanously glared at him. Laxus brought Aria closer to him, until their chests were touching when a shot of lightning came from the sky and crashed on them.

They both started to growl loudly as they absorbed as much power from one another as they could. Once they reached the limit, they let of their left hand as a powerball of lightning formed. With impressive synchronization, they brought forth their left hand with the electric ball while they still held each other's right hands.

" _THUNDER DRAGON LIGHTNING TORNADO!_ "

The blast of lightning was powerful and it shook everyone to their core as the attack was sent flying to the metallic dragon. The moment it clashed against it, the whole ground shook incontrollably. There was smoke everywhere. The anticipation if the attack had been strong enough was getting to them.

"Did it work?" She looked up at Laxus and then turned to look through the smoke.

"It better have. I just drained my magic doing that attack."

However, their question was answered when Faust's laugh could be heard from the smoke. Aria started to shake, pure cold fear developing in her body. Laxus' eyes flashed in anger and he immediately pulled her closer.

"That bastard," he growled next to her.

Faust laughed maniacally at the look on their faces when suddenly, the dragon whipped around and slammed his tail against the two mages.

Tessa could only stare in horror when she saw both of them crashing against one of the walls of the ruined coliseum, "ARIA!"

Wendy's eyes welled up in tears, "That did nothing to him…"

Gajeel and Natsu felt hot anger like never before. That attack should have whipped out the king, but it did nothing. No one should be able to get up from a blast like that.

Tessa kept calling Aria through their link, but she wasn't getting anything back. Just the mere thought that she could be _dead_ was making her shake. She couldn't even find herself to make a move, to avenge her. She was terrified.

King Faust didn't give them time to grieve at the shock of seeing Laxus, the strongest slayer, and Aria being taken down after a powerful unison raid. He let out purple like energy daggers at them at a fast speed. They all screamed in agony as they were hit by the attacks, to the point they were all battered on the floor. There was nowhere they could cover themselves, to try to get away.

"You are a bunch of incompetent fools!," he roared at them, "Your friends are dead and so will you. I will absorb all of your power and continue to rule this world!"

He looked at each one of them until his eyes fell on the iron dragon slayer who was furiously glaring at him.

"I will start with you!"

From his sword, a bigger version of the purple energy daggers he had sent to them shot forth. Gajeel's eyes widened as he saw it getting closer to him. He closed his eyes, waiting for the blast to hit him, but it never did.

He felt something wet landing on his cheek and he opened his eyes. His crimson pools widened in horror to see that Tessa had intercepted the attack, piercing her right through.

Her eyes were wide in shock and her trembling hands went to her stomach where she was bleeding profusely. She coughed and blood came out of her mouth and she collapsed on her knees.

Gajeel's heart was thumping wildly in his chest and he moved to catch her as she fell backwards. He cradled her body, moving her bangs out of her face.

"Why did you do that?!" He screamed at her, his voice going raw with emotion, as he placed his hand on her wound to stop the bleeding, "Why?!"

 _So much blood_ , he thought. He was shaking because he didn't know what to do. He felt his own heart painfully clench in his chest. Not even Faust's hits or energy blasts had hurt so _damn much_.

She brokenly smiled at the anger of his voice, "I… I wasn't gonna let him… hurt someone else… that was important to me…"

He didn't notice Wendy getting on her other side as he continued to look at her in shock. Her green eyes were brimming in tears as a small trail of blood fell down her rosy lips. Wendy was sobbing as she tried using as much of her healing power as possible.

Tessa lifted her bloody hand as she removed his messy black bangs out of his face and held his cheek, "Have… have I told you your eyes are pretty?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper. And slowly, like if time was slowing down, her hand fell from his face and she closed her eyes, landing limply next to her.

"No…" Gajeel whispered, "Tessa… girl, WAKE UP!" he cradled her body and buried his face on her neck.

Natsu had seen a lot of things in his life time. He had fought against the odds before. However, this… this was different. Tessa had risked her life to save Gajeel. Gajeel, who had destroyed his guild, who beat the crap out of Lucy, who he almost didn't defeat. She didn't see Gajeel for the person that he used to be. She had accepted him with open arms.

Something that Natsu hadn't done yet.

A different form of anger was bubbling on his stomach and he got up.

"I'm finishing this," He hissed as he glared at Faust. Gajeel heard him and he slowly looked up.

"No. We are finishing this."

Natsu had barely heard him when Gajeel had placed Tessa gently back on the ground and he dashed forward, his vision filled with rage. The anger within him was feeding his adrenaline, feeding his own magic. He transformed his arm into his Iron Sword and slashed both of the dragon's feet simultaneously in a clean swipe, something he hadn't been able to do before. Faust screamed, shock and afraid as he knew there was no way he could jump away from an attack.

Natsu turned to Wendy, "When it's time, I need you to do a dragon roar on me!"

The young girl with a tear streaked face looked at him and then at Tessa.

"Natsu, if I stop healing her she could—"

His eyes flashed, "She won't die!"

The young mage jumped towards Faust who easily slapped him away before he could do an attack. As Natsu was in the air, Wendy removed herself from Tessa and with all her might, she unleashed her sky dragon roar.

Natsu found the rotation of the wind of the tornado and used it to his advantage. He brought out his own fire to increase the speed and he went right through the metallic dragon, grabbing the King by his collar and pulling him out of it.

The dragon's metal groaned as it collapsed on the floor and then exploded. Wendy used her body to cover Tessa's, completely ignoring the feel of her back burning slightly due to the explosion.

Various seconds passed and the girl quickly moved and started to continue healing her.

 _The blood is not stopping!_ She thought as she tried her hardest, but after the roar she was left with almost nothing.

Gajeel limped to the two girls, despair filling him as he continued to see the blood flow. He got on his knees and grabbed her limp body and brought it closer to him.

He felt his eyes burning as he buried his head on her neck. He couldn't find himself to celebrate that they had defeated the King of Edolas. He couldn't find himself happy that the exceeds would return to normal.

How could he be happy when she couldn't see for herself?

All he could see in his mind was her eyes and her smile. All he could hear was the way she would get mad at him during sparring or how excited she would be that she had landed a clean hit on him.

"She's not dead, I can hear her."

His eyes snapped open to see a bloodied Aria being carried by a battered Laxus on his back. He placed her down and the young woman crawled to her best friend.

Gajeel could only stare as Aria moved her fingers to the wound, touching the blood and writing an encryption on Tessa's bare arms. She then removed a piece of rock that had imbedded on her thigh, and then she dug her finger in and started to write something on her arm as well.

Gajeel was beyond confused, "What the fuck are you doing?"

Aria turned to Laxus, "Can you hold her feet? She might thrash around."

He did so without hesitation and turned to Gajeel, "They have a blood link."

"I'm going to be transferring my blood to her to replenish what she's lost," She said quietly, "Wendy, I know you're weak, but I need you to heal her as much as you can until at least the bleeding stops."

Aria took a deep breath, trying to ignore the intense pain from her broken ribs as she inhaled. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

 _By my own blood I swear,_

 _Fire, Earth, Water, Air_

 _Bind the powers to my need_

 _With this magic, I do bleed_

 _Transfer mine to thee…_

The encryptions on Tessa's body and Aria's started to glow a crimson red, very similar to Gajeel's eyes. The blood from Arias wounds, specially the one on her bare thigh, started lifting in the air and started going back through the wound from Faust's attack. Wendy quickly raised her hands to the wound and used her healing power as well to help the wound.

Several seconds passed that Laxus noticed Aria growing pale quickly. He wanted to stop her, but he didn't want to interrupt the ritual if it meant to save Tessa's life. He had grown fond of her, finding her quirky personality amusing. Suddenly, the mage that he was holding started convulsing as her body reacted to the blood spell. Gajeel wrapped both of his arms around her chest and held her tightly from preventing her from hurting herself further.

 _Just a little more,_ Aria told herself as her hands were shaking from now her own blood loss.

Wendy's gasp startled her, "She's not bleeding anymore!"

Aria let her hands fall to her side as she swayed back and forth, "Good…"

Natsu had knocked out Faust and handed Wendy his scarf, "Here. Wrap it around her."

Laxus moved away and kneeled behind Aria, wrapping his arm around her to support her. She leaned into him, grateful for the support since she knew she could pass out at any moment. She was exhausted and breathing heavily as sweat came down her forehead. She had given her a lot more blood than what she was supposed to.

 _Wake up Tessa..._

... _Aria ?_

 _You can wake up now... It's okay..._

 _G...Gaj...eel_

 _He's going to kill me if you don't wake up. He's okay. He's waiting for you_.

Laxus saw Tessa's eyelids twitching and he smirked, "It worked," he whispered against Aria's ear.

Wendy finished wrapping the scarf tightly around her and Gajeel placed her on his lap. His heart was thumping wildly as he saw her eyes opening slowly as she was still weak.

Her green eyes quickly found his and she smiled, "Gajeel… you're okay…"

He was once a ruthless mage that cared about himself. After Metallicana leaving, he found it pointless about caring about anyone other than himself. He felt joy destroying and tormenting the lives of others. He was selfish and withdrawn. He had almost lost himself to a horrible pit of darkness until he joined Fairy Tail, but even then, he still held a fear of going back to his old cold ways.

But the woman who was barely able to form a smile in her lips as she looked at him had pulled him out of it completely. He had been running away from something he couldn't understand before, but not anymore. Not after what she had done for him.

With no hesitation, he leaned down and kissed her as he held her face tenderly.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Fallen

The moment he ended the kiss, he felt his whole body grow hot as he realized what he had done. He had felt a moment of courage the moment he did so, but that rush of adrenaline and relief finally faded away. He took in the way her green eyes were staring into his and he saw that _maybe_ what he had done was not a mistake.

Happiness is the only thing that was filling her in. Besides the still throbbing pain in her stomach and all that, she felt happy. She had been confused. She thought she was seeing little signs here and there but she thought she had been seeing things. Since the first time they trained, she felt comfortable with him. He was quiet but he would listen to her talk senselessly. Not once did he complain, he would just tease her. He believed her to be better and occasionally had opened up about his own past. The stories they shared from their younger days regarding their dragons, and although Gajeel would say he didn't miss Metallicana, Tessa could see right through it. There was too much familiarity between them. They would immediately notice each others body language. There was something she could feel and see the moment he would look at her, but she never tried pondering what it could be. She had been slightly confused about Gray as well, but whatever slightly she had felt for the ice mage wizard was nothing like how she felt _now_.

Seeing Aria get sent flying like a rag doll had made her angry and worried. But hearing the tyrant say he would kill Gajeel first to absorb his magic that made her terrified and she acted quickly. She had heard him yelling at her through the haziness she was falling in and through the pain she was feeling.

Her heart wanted to jump out of her chest when she could hear the desperation in his voice. She wanted to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be okay—but she was falling in a pit of pain that she could barely find herself moving. However, things always worked out for the best. She felt the power within her the moment that Aria started doing the spell. She wanted to stop her at first. She didn't seem it necessary for her to waste so much blood and energy for her to survive. She had saved his life and with that, she was good enough to fall into a deep sleep that she would not wake up from.

But she survived. And now any fuzziness of confusion about what she felt for him, it was very evident as she stared right back at him. She welcomed the feel of his arms wrapping tenderly but strongly at the same time around her body. She welcomed the warmth spreading through her body by the way he was looking at her. She knew he wasn't one to show feelings, but the fear of losing her had been overwhelming that he let himself go just for her sake.

She smiled at him, tiredly as her eyelashes were fluttering. She wasn't fully healed yet, it would take her a couple of days to be so.

She saw that he was having an inner battle within him and she did the only thing she could do to reassure him. She pulled his face towards hers and kissed him softly. In the back of her head, she could feel the pleasant rumbling of her inner dragon and _that_ was enough for her to not be nervous with him.

Aria couldn't help but have a very serene and happy look on her face as she saw her best friend kissing the man she knew she had been having feelings for. It had been too obvious. She had seen it herself.

Her mind wandered back to the arm that was securing her from falling to the ground and the chest that was against her back. She hated to admit it to herself, but she felt safe with him holding her like that. After the mechanical dragon had hit them, she had been the first one to recover and her blood had gone cold when she saw that Laxus wasn't waking up. He only seemed to have a gash on his head and he had thankfully awoken when she had crawled to him and shook his shoulder.

She had been worried over him when she felt a snap on the link with Tessa.

Neither Wendy or Natsu could find themselves to say something. One moment they're worried regarding Tessa bleeding out, her and Aria have a blood bond, and Gajeel kissed Tessa.

However, before anyone could really get rid of the shock and think about everything, Laxus' eyes widened when he saw the floating islands in the dark sky of Edolas falling down.

The first island that fell wasn't far from them and immediately the earth started to shake underneath them, like a small earthquake. Wendy quickly made sure that Natsu's scarf was tightly secured around Tessa so Gajeel could carry her. Laxus kept his arm around Aria as they sat up and watched with horror and fascination the floating pieces of earth that had captivated them when they first arrived to Edolas plummeting to the ground.

"Why is that happening?" Wendy asked with horror as the islands continued falling down.

Laxus turned his head and pointed to light sources coming out of the ground and floating to the sky, "Look. It's the magic energy of Edolas."

Aria's eyes widened, "It's getting sucked out."

Natsu kept looking around, "Why? I mean, we defeated Faust!"

Gajeel grunted, "The magic is disappearing. That's what's happening."

"We should go back to the Royal City," Wendy said with sorry as more islands crashed, "The people must be panicking there!"

"She's got a point. Besides, we shouldn't stay here where an island could crush us at any moment." Gajeel said as he tightened his hold on Tessa who he now had on his back. The poor woman could barely keep her eyes open.

Laxus looked down at Aria, "You think you can walk all the way over there?"

She gave him a tiny smile, "I'll be fine," she then reached with her hands to the gash on the side of his face, touching the wound softly, "Maybe in the Royal City we can find something to wrap your head, you're still bleeding."

He confusedly stared at her until he felt the trail of blood coming down his forehead. He raised his hand to touch it and he hissed. He had forgotten he got a gash after Faust's attack.

Tired and battered, they all headed forth to the Royal City.

/././././.

It had taken them a while, but when they got there, they found themselves in quite a predicament. The citizens were in immense panic since they saw the threads of golden energy taking the magic away. It was utter chaos. Whenever Wendy would go and beg them that they needed to find safe shelter because of the islands falling down, no one was listening to her. The people were going beyond hysterical as everything that would work with magic was now completely useless.

"They're not listening to me!" She said defeated as she found her friends behind a destroyed building. She made her way over where Tessa laid asleep, occasionally her face crunching up in pain. Wendy's magic would slowly replenish but the young girl would waste it again to heal the other woman. She was doing progress, but she needed a permanent place to rest for her to heal properly.

Aria was trying to figure out what to do when a black and white exceed with a long neck was running up to them, waving its paws frantically at them.

Laxus noticed what caught her attention and his eyebrow quirked, "Wendy, wasn't that cat there when the other fur balls were throwing rocks at us?"

The small girl turned around confused, but when her eyes catched the cat coming their way, she smiled, "That's Nadi!"

"Dragon slayers!" the nervous cat said frantically once it reached them. Gajeel kept blinking at it since it would not stop shaking its hands.

"I need your help! Jellal is thinking of something atrocious!"

Laxus walked up to the cat and picked it up by the scruff, "Relax! What are you talking about?"

The small exceed gulped at the glare that Laxus was giving him. Aria rolled her eyes and grabbed the exceed from him and in a more gentle tone, something no one was expecting, asked the same thing as Laxus did.

For the first time ever, Nadi stopped shaking and told them everything. He told them how he had overheard Jellal speaking to Panther Lily and his plan for Lily to be the necessary hero for Edolas, meaning that he needed to kill Jellal. The man saw it that it was necessary for Edolas to have a strong leader in a storm of panic now that all the magic was fading away.

"He is the one that is getting rid of the magic! He says that it's because of magic that Edolas was almost destroyed with this war."

"He's the prince though," Aria interjected, "Shouldn't he be the hero?"

"He probably doesn't want to be acknowledged because he was gone for seven years. He doesn't see that it should belong to him the respect of the people," Gajeel muttered as he walked up to them with his arms crossed.

Aria saw the look that Natsu had and she automatically took a step backwards next to Laxus.

"What's with you pyro?"

His wicked grin grew larger as he pointed to a crashed clothing store, "I think I know what we need to do."

Laxus gave him a dry look, "What the fuck is with you and dressing up?"

/./././././.

Mystogan… or more like Jellal, had gone through a series of very difficult moments all seven years he was away. From joining Fairy Tail, from closing all animas he could find and opening one to bring back Magnolia to Earthland. He was prepared to sacrifice himself for his people that were now in hysterics and panicking because all the magic from Edolas was disappearing.

However, he was not prepared to what he witnessed when he followed the guard with Panther Lily. The pink hair was immediately a giveaway besides the fire coming out of a certain dragon slayer. He was wearing a dark cape with _horns_ at the top of his head. His own father was tied up unconscious against a post on top of the building next to Natsu. He could hear the people panicking and screaming for seeing their 'beloved' king at the hands of the one at 'fault' for what was going on in Edolas. The guard had come in in terror as he was speaking to Panther Lily that _monsters_ were wreaking havoc all over the city. He caught a glance of a bored Laxus destroying buildings and Aria wasn't that far behind him. Gajeel kept laughing maniacally and making scary expressions to scare off people away from them.

Natsu spat fire and laughed loudly, " _ALL OF YOU BOW DOWN TO ME! I AM THE GREAT DEMON LORD DRAGNEEL!"_

"Natsu!" Mystogan yelled at him, astonished as he witnessed everything through the balcony.

Natsu laughed harder, "Well if it isn't the _prince_ of Edolas! BOW BEFORE ME!"

Laxus could only roll his eyes as he saw Natsu on top of a building from the street, "He's liking this a little too much."

Aria scratched the back of her head, "Just a little?"

" _COME ON MY SLAVES! DESTROY EVERYTHING AS I ABSORB ALL THIS MAGIC!"_

Gajeel stopped what he was doing and glared up at Natsu, "Who you calling slave?!"

Aria's eye twitched and Laxus glared at Natsu as well who brushed off with ease the stares he was getting.

Natsu continued to taunt Mystogan, desperately hoping that the other man would take the bait. He begged all of them to stop destroying further the city but neither of them were listening to him. Natsu continued displaying his fire to scare the citizens further and destroying a building. Mystogan tried using his sleeping spell, but the anima was taking his magic away as well, leaving him with nothing against Natsu who had recovered some of his energy from the fight against Faust.

Behind a broken building, Wendy was looking at the scene with concern. All the citizens were beyond terrified. Women and children were clinging on to their husbands and their fathers as they sobbed.

"Natsu this might be a little too much," Wendy said softly as looked at the crowd.

"He's fine… The more power he shows… the better for Mystogan…"

Wendy's eyes shot up as she looked behind her. Tessa was awake and was leaning against a rock to sustain herself.

"You need to be resting!" Wendy frantically said to her. She ran to her and gently pushed her down in a sitting position. Tessa hissed but didn't object.

"I heard everything. Natsu is fine with what he's doing… the people need to see that their prince is worth."

/./././.

Aria, Gajeel, and Laxus stood on the side with their arms crossed once Mystogan finally came to challenge Natsu. Aria wanted to grin as she could hear everyone surprised as Mystogan was able to hit Natsu back. Gajeel smirked, knowing well the plan was going how it was supposed to and slowly hid himself through the shadows to go back to Tessa.

Laxus put his hands in his pockets once he saw Mystogan taking in the fight more seriously. It was after one of the punches, that he genuinely smiled when he heard what Natsu was saying. Aria noticed his smile and quickly turned her attention back to the fight, wondering why the taller man looked happy.

"Two!" Mystogan screamed as he threw a kick at Natsu, landing heavily on the ribs, "You must never use former contacts met through your being in the guild for personal gain!"

Natsu smirked as he readied his last punch. Laxus' gaze turned softer as he repeated with Natsu the last law of Fairy Tail to Mystogan.

"Though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might! You must never consider your own life to be something insignificant! And you can't never forget the friends you love!"

Natsu fell to the ground in defeat as the entire crowd roared in applause and excited shouts. People were chanting Jellal's name as he stood over Natsu, his eyes shining with unshed tears. Aria could feel a knot on her throat since she figured out Natsu was saying goodbye to Mystogan.

She looked around and she smiled to see Lucy and Gray were safe and sound. She wondered where Erza was, but she wasn't as worried since that woman was tougher than Gajeel's iron. She noticed that E. Tessa was next to Gray and she gave the woman a thumbs up. E. Tessa grinned at her and did the same thing.

E. Tessa had heard what had happened to Panther Lily after he had put her near a field in Extalia when the lacrima was about to crash to it. She realized that they were right, so she had joined the Earthland Fairy Tail wizards to battle the Royal Army.

Laxus saw the entire guild of Edolas Fairy Tail staring at them. He found himself locking eyes with E. Aria and she smiled at him, bringing the small bundle she was carrying higher up for Laxus to see. His eyes widened, surprised since he didn't think she would give birth so soon. He could feel someone's gaze on him and he froze when he realized it was his own counterpart.

He lacked his scar, but other than that, he was staring at a mirror.

The shock didn't last long, as suddenly, anyone that was from Earthland and the exceeds were shining in a gold light.

Aria looked down at herself, "What is this?"

Laxus sighed, "Our time is up."

The exceeds were the most scared as the golden light that was covering them grew shinier and they started being pulled in the air because of the anima. Eventually, all of them started elevating as they were being pulled up. Aria's eyes widened as she remembered Tessa's condition, but she let out a sigh of relief to see that both Wendy and Gajeel were with her. She looked down at the Royal City and all of their citizens. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, for them to get through a new era without magic, but it had been necessary. She understood why Mystogan had done what he did.

E. Laxus could see his counterpart getting further away, but for some strange reason he knew he would be able to hear him.

"I didn't talk to you, but I can tell we are too much alike as well besides looks. Don't let her go."

Laxus didn't pay attention to all the goodbyes Natsu, Lucy, and Gray were saying to the members of Edolas Fairy Tail. But hearing his own voice calling out to him and telling him that, made his eyes widen in shock and stare at his own counterpart. He could see E. Aria smiling up at him and his heart clench.

Because even if he tried following his counterpart's own advice, as he looked at Aria who somehow had made her way to Gajeel and Wendy to be with Tessa, he wasn't sure if it would work.

/./.:./././.

The rain and thunder echoed all over the outskirts of Magnolia, when a familiar hole in the sky pulsated powerfully as the Earthland Fairy Tail wizards finally made it home. The landing had been horrible, but Aria had been grateful for both Carla and Happy quickly taking a hold of Tessa so she wouldn't land on the ground like the rest of them. They all groaned painfully with the harsh landing, but that was quickly forgotten as they were now back home.

Tessa smiled through the pain with clenched teeth as she was softly placed on the grass by the exceeds. Aria gave Erza her hand, grateful to see the redhead in one piece after her battle with Knightwalker.

However, a predicament appeared when all the exceeds appeared in front of them. Carla had been beyond furious, but all Aria could do was roll her eyes and check on her friend. She didn't see the flying cats as dangerous, so she didn't see what the big deal was for them to stay in Earthland. The argument continued for a lot longer than Aria wanted, until all the exceeds finally left. She sighed in relief but immediately got annoyed when no one was moving to go back to the guild.

"Look, as much as I want to continue chatting in the rain, I need to get Tessa to the infirmary in the guild. She needs to properly rest. You coming metal head?"

Gajeel was about to move until he realized a certain exceed wasn't around.

"Did Panther Lily leave with them? I told that damn cat he was gonna stay with me and become part of Fairy Tail."

Aria raised an eyebrow at him, "You're really complaining about the flea bag?"

"Who are you calling a flea bag? I'm right here."

All of them turned around as they heard him, but beliwerdment looks and shouting were immediately thrown his way. He was no longer in his fighting form, but he was indeed the same size as Carla and Happy.

Tessa let out a happy smile besides the pain she was feeling, "He's adorable!"

Aria went up to him and then poked him with her finger several times, "Why are you tiny?"

"Hey! Leave my cat alone!"

Panther Lily gave them all a look, "I can explain later. For now, here's someone that followed us through the anima."

That's when they all noticed the rope in his hand and he pulled. Followed by the pull, was a grunt of pain from a woman. She came out of the woods and Aria immediately heard gasps from behind them.

The woman was beautiful. Her hair was almost the same shade as Aria's but her eyes were a deep blue. The features were very familiar and Aria felt like she had seen them before.

"L-Lisanna?" Natsu whispered in shock.

/./././././.

Exhausted wasn't the word that Aria could even use to describe how she felt. It had been a couple of hours since they had arrived in Earthland and she was now leaving the infirmary. After the shocking news that who they thought was Edolas Lisanna but in reality was Earthland Lisanna, things took a bigger turn. They divided into two groups since it seemed that today was also the anniversary of her death so Erza, Lucy, Gray, and Natsu took Lisanna to the cemetery where her siblings would be. Part of Laxus had wanted to go with them as well, since he had grown up with the Strauss siblings, but he deemed it best to leave with Aria, Gajeel, and Wendy to speak to his grandfather about the events that happened and why Lisanna was back with them.

Wendy had tried healing Tessa again as much as she could until Porylusca arrived. The old woman wasn't happy with being requested to leave her home from the woods, but helped nonetheless. Aria insisted that she could stay the night in the same room as Tessa, but one stern look from Porylusca said otherwise.

She was surprised that when she was leaving the infirmary, she almost bumped into Gajeel.

"You look like shit." He casually commented as he stared at her bruised form. She was wearing a clean sports bra while her entire torso was bandaged tightly. All she had covering her was a jacket Levy had brought for her from her room.

Panther Lily, who was comfortably on Gajeel's shoulder gave him a look, "Is that how you talk to ladies?"

Aria snorted, "Just me. Different story with the one that has a hole in her stomach."

Gajeel glared at her, trying to control the blush that was spreading through his cheeks, "The old hag still in there?"

"She just kicked me out of the room."

He rolled his eyes and walked forward, his hand grasping the handle, "I'll send Panther Lily to get you if something changes."

The small black cat nodded his head, "Count on me. Get some rest Aria."

She gave them a small smile, "Good luck with the witch in there."

She bid them goodnight and continued walking down the hall. As she was passing through the Master's office, Laxus was coming out of it with a tired look on his face. Even his spiky hair seemed to be down as well, reflecting on how exhausted the mage was. Laxus blinked in surprise to see her there, expecting her to be asleep since it was late in the night already.

"You were with the Master the whole time?" She found herself asking. He let out a heavy sigh.

"I had to tell him everything and he had me do more than half of his paperwork as well. I'm not even S-Class class anymore to be doing that shit," He rolled his eyes at the last part. He looked at her bandaged torso.

"How're you doing? Is Tessa better?"

"The old woman kicked me out. She said the only thing that was broken for me were two ribs, but that my legs still work and should get the hell out. She has an attitude problem."

He put his hands in his pockets and gave her a look, "Talk about pot meet kettle."

"You're rather peachy Sparky."

He instantly froze as he stared at her. She hadn't called him that since that night. He didn't understand the sudden change. She noticed what she had called him and instantly blushed. She averted her gaze from his and cleared her throat.

"Don't let it get to your head. Even if it's injured," she pointedly looked at the bandages wrapped around his head, "It's just… I don't know. Thank you I guess. For having my back in that fight."

He walked closer to her and she instantly felt so small. For the first time she felt a bit intimidated by the size difference.

"Well," he said as his voice went deeper, "That's what comrades do right?"

She swallowed quietly as she looked anywhere but at him. Could she really go through with what she had said? He had been there for her the moment she needed him. Out of any place to push the island away from Extalia, he chose to be by her side. He had relied on her for a unison raid. He had supported her weight when she needed to get to Tessa when she was injured. Had she gone too far that night out of anger? She gained some confidence and finally looked up at him.

Maybe she could be his friend. At the end of the day, it's not like they had ever been in a relationship. They had kissed once and that's it. It's not like they had confessed anything to one another. She loved being around the others, but something else was missing. She surprisingly enjoyed speaking to Lucy and Wendy. Gajeel had been pleasant to travel with when they were in Edolas together. Who else could she call her friend? Possibly Bickslow. He had been very welcoming when she had gotten back to the guild.

However, she knew deep down that the other person besides Tessa that could understand her was the man she was currently staring at.

"I'm tired. Walk me to Fairy Guilds? In case I pass out cause of how tired I am."

His eyebrows shot up but then quickly changed to suspicion, "Why?"

She let out a sigh as she gave him a small smile, "That's what friends do right? Be there for each other."

The suspicion faded away and he immediately squashed down the disappointment feel in his chest the moment she called him his friend.

 _So… That's how it'll be huh…_ he thought as he moved his head to the side, signaling her to start walking.

He took in her wide golden eyes and gave her a small smile of his own, "Let's go then. But we'll go to my place," he chuckled by the way her eyes widened, "Relax. There's plenty of room and the Thunder Legion stay there. If you need anything, one of us will help you."

She took it into consideration for a bit, "Alright. To your place then."

/./././././.

She woke up in the middle of the night and slightly groaned. Her throat felt harsh and dry. The only light that was in the room was thanks to a small candle on the nightstand next to the bed. The clouds were still thick from the storm that had fallen in Magnolia, the gentle rain hitting the window that was just above her head.

She heard the clanking of glass slightly touching and water pouring. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up slowly when she saw a hand with fingerless gloves handing her a glass of water. She could see the small shimmer of the piercings in the knuckles and she smiled.

"I thought she had kicked you out," She quietly said as she accepted the glass of water. The coolness of it comforting the painful dryness she felt in her throat.

Gajeel didn't say anything, but he was grateful that there was no light and she could not see him blushing. He sighed as he thought of that. Ever since he had kissed her and she kissed him, he found himself constantly doing that. So far it was only Aria teasing him, but her he didn't mind as much.

However if it was Natsu or Gray it would be a different story.

"She did. But Panther Lily was clever and made her leave."

She strained her eyesight as she looked around, "Is he still here?"

He shook his head but it dawned on him she probably couldn't see him, "He left to my house a while ago."

"What about Aria?"

"I bumped into her. She was going back to get some rest."

They stayed in comfortable silence until Tessa finished her water. She knew he was watching her thanks to his eyesight, but since she was still recovering, her senses weren't as keen at the moment like his.

"Can you sit so I can attempt to see you better? It's kind of weird speaking to you like this."

She immediately heard the chair scraping on the wood floor and she shook her head, "Sit on the bed."

The chair stopped moving and she sighed. She could practically taste the hesitation.

"I'm not going to break if you sit next to me. I just want to see you better."

Slow seconds went by until she heard his boots coming closer to the bed. He sat down, the bed creaking softly at his weight. She could see him better now, not clear, but better. She reached forward with her left hand but immediately retracted it the moment she felt him flinch.

She bit the inside of her cheek, disappointment rolling off of her as her chest felt tight.

"I'm sorry I… I didn't mean to startle you… it's just that… after what happened I thought…" She trailed off, feeling embarrassed and ashamed as the seconds went by with him not saying anything.

 _What if he only did that because of spur of the moment? Maybe it was just his way of saying thank you for saving his life and nothing else._

She bowed her head and shut her eyes tightly as the tears threatened to fall. She felt ridiculous and beyond embarrassed. The fear of being rejected was being more painful than her own wound.

The bed creaked louder as he shifted his body, moving closer to her and grasping her hand tightly. Her eyes shot open and she looked up. She could see him even better now, the low light from the candle illuminating most of his face. He held the same look with his red eyes when he had first kissed her.

He sighed heavily, trying to figure out what words to use. But he couldn't find the words. At least not yet. So he opted out with a better option. He turned his body and with his right hand, he held her face softly and tenderly, like if she was a piece of beautiful fragile glass.

He wanted to chuckle at the irony of his thoughts, but instead, he leaned forward and kissed her again.

Her heart was going wild as it thumped rapidly against her chest. Her entire body felt warm as she kissed him back.

When he pulled apart, he pushed her bangs out of the way and continued holding her face.

"I'm not good at this," he roughly but softly said, "I feel like I shouldn't even be doing this. I don't even fully understand what I'm feeling."

He stopped for a moment as he felt himself being swallowed by her green eyes which were shining brightly.

"You sacrificed yourself for me and the one thing that _that_ made me realize is that I will not go anywhere unless you ask me to."

Her chest felt warmer as she understood perfectly what he said. And that's how it had always been. Ever since their first practice and all those nights they would spent together, she was able to figure him out without a problem. She was not expecting this at all, but she welcomed everything she was feeling thanks to him with open arms.

She took in a shaky deep breath as she gripped tighter the hand that was holding hers.

"I don't want you going anywhere."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Home

The entire guild was filled with either shock, disbelief, and happiness as Lisanna came inside the guild the following day. Makarov looked from his spot in the bar, clearly pleased to see that one of his children was alive and well. A party was to immediately be thrown for her that evening. Aria could smile from her spot in the far table inside the guild. Since she had practically accepted Laxus as her friend again, she didn't see an issue with eating lunch with him and the rest of the Thunder Legion.

"The fact you guys found her in Edolas is incredible," Freed commented as he sipped his coffee, "Which in fact, it makes me curious if you encountered your other selves?"

Bickslow leaned in, curious as well, "Did you guys see us?"

Aria blinked at them, "You can ask Sparky here. I went to Edolas with Gajeel and we really didn't interact with those from that Fairy Tail."

Laxus rolled his eyes as he casually leaned back on his chair, "I didn't see you three. Lucy was a fucking psychotic monster, Gray was obsessed with Juvia, and Natsu was the biggest pussy ever."

Evergreen gave him a look, "You didn't see yourself Laxus? Or Aria?"

Laxus was about to say no but was interrupted.

"We did see Aria! She was so nice! And she was beautiful with her pregnant belly! OH! And she was married to Laxus! They were sooooo in love like these two!"

Aria started to choke in the piece of toast she was nibbling on. Evergreen awkwardly patted her back, using her fan to hide the grin on her face. Freed was wide eyed and Bickslow was laughing loudly at that.

Laxus started going through various forms of mutilating the damn blue cat when a booming voice stopped him from picking an option.

"Laxus Dreyar finally settled? I never thought I would be alive for this day!"

 _My day keeps fucking getting better,_ he bitterly thought as he looked up at the man that was towering over them. Happy took the distraction to fly back to Natsu, a grin on his face the entire time.

"It was in a goddam alternate universe," he said with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. He took a deep breath as he finally looked at the other man, his eyebrow raised, "Finally remembered you had a guild Gildarts?"

The man laughed loudly, "Peachy as ever Laxus. Some things haven't changed." He glanced over at the smaller woman who had finally regained her breathing, "You sure know how to pick them. She seems like a firecracker."

Aria narrowed her eyes at him, "I don't know if to take that as a compliment or not," she looked at the Thunder Legion, "Who's the old man?"

Gildarts laughed again as he walked around the table to her. On his way, he slapped Laxus on his back, making the man groan. Gildarts extended his hand to her, "Gildarts Clive, S-Class mage and—"

"Biggest pain in the fucking ass," Laxus muttered, not caring if the older man heard him or not.

"Gildarts! FIGHT ME!"

Aria's eyes widened to see Natsu jumping in the air, fist covered in flames, but the moment he neared the older man, he smacked Natsu like a fly, making him fly the other direction and crash onto a table.

Aria hesitantly extended her hand, "Aria Krane."

Gildarts smirked as he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, "Pleasure to meet you."

Aria seemed bored, "Right. Pleasure."

He let go of her hand and stared at her for a moment. He took in the way her eyebrow was raised and the way her amber eyes were flashing.

He snorted as he looked back at Laxus, "Yup. Definitely your woman."

"I'm not his woman!"

"She's not mine!"

The man smiled and then looked fully at Laxus, "So, what is this I hear about Fantasia and that you ain't S-Class anymore?"

A hushed silence fell in the guild as everyone heard the question. Some of them were hoping that Laxus would get beaten in that moment for what he did.

Aria noticed right away how Laxus' face grew more serious. He was clenching his jaw and he was pondering whether to break the cup of coffee he held or not.

Surprisingly though, Gildarts placed a hand on his shoulder, startling Laxus and making him look up at him.

"I'll be around for a while. Come talk to me when you can."

He cleared his throat and nodded, "I will old man."

Gildarts left their table and it seemed that the energy from the guild went back to normal. Aria couldn't even understand what had happened. Or more like, she didn't want to. Laxus was more quiet than ever after Gildarts left but she didn't find the courage to pry. She had learned that sometimes it was best to leave him alone.

She finished her food and put all the plates together to take them back to Mira. She bid them bye for the moment as she made her way to the bar.

"Here Mira. You think you can prepare another plate? Gonna take it to Tessa."

The woman smiled mischievously, "I see that you met Gildarts. He just came back earlier in the morning. Oh! Gajeel already ordered one for her. Here, you can take it to her."

Aria was surprised as she took in the food in the plate. It was literally all of her favorite foods but in smaller portions. She had to give it to him, he clearly paid attention to what her friend liked.

"Metal rod, Lily, you guys coming?" She called out to them as she started making herself up the stairs to take the food to her. Everyone in the guild gaped as Gajeel got up with Panther Lily and soon followed after her.

Gray was beyond confused the moment they were out of their sight, "Why is Gajeel going with her?"

Lucy chewed on her apple, "They're going to see Tessa."

"I know, but why is he going?"

Natsu answered but he didn't look up from his stuffing his face, "Cwould poshbly be caurse he kirsed hur."

Erza gave him a disgusted look, "Swallow your food!"

He blinked at them. He chugged his water and then tried again, "I said that it could possibly be because he kissed her."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

And then…

"WHAT?!"

/././././.

Gajeel groaned loudly as he brought his hands to his face just when Lily had closed the door. Aria snorted and Tessa looked at them confused as Aria placed the tray of food on her lap.

"What happened?" She asked as she ate her sandwich.

"Pyro opened his mouth about you two smooching during the battle with Faust."

Tessa blushed deeply and she meekly smiled at Gajeel, "They were bound to find out."

"I'm going to shove a pipe up his ass when I see him," he darkly muttered. Tessa laughed at his comment.

"You think you're up for the party today?" Aria asked as she made herself comfortable on the chair since Gajeel was sitting with Tessa on the bed. She motioned to Panther Lily to join her and the exceed comfortably sat on her lap.

Tessa grinned, "Yup! I just can't do any strenuous activities yet. It's going to take a few more days for that."

Tessa saw the smirk Aria had for what she said, "Don't start Aria. I didn't tease you and the lightning rod."

Aria rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah. Well I'll be heading out before you bite my head off. You want to come Lily?"

Gajeel glared at her, "Why are you taking my cat?"

"I'm going to help him get rid of his fear of thunder," She said in a tone that clearly stated it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The black cat visibly started to shake, "W-what do you mean? I-I'm not afraid of thunder."

Aria snorted, "I clearly saw you messing up every time you would hear my thunder! Only reason I wasn't the one that kicked your ass was because this one over here couldn't fight the Edolas Tessa!"

Tessa's eyes widened, "What?!"

Gajeel was not pleased at Aria, "I don't know anymore who has a bigger mouth. You or that flame breath idiot."

Aria grinned and quickly took off with a terrified Panther Lily in her arms. Once the door shut behind them, he turned to Tessa.

"You sure you want to go to a party filled with morons?"

She sipped at her milkshake and smiled at him, "Let's be real. The party is going to get out of hand and a brawl is going to break out, giving you the perfect opportunity to hit Natsu for opening his mouth."

Gajeel smirked evilly as he leaned closer to her, "I knew there was a reason why I was attracted to you."

She tilted her head, "I thought it was cause of my beauty?"

He rolled his eyes at her and as he was leaning in for a kiss, she placed a finger on his lips.

"So, you couldn't fight the other me? Is it because she was prettier?"

She was trying to fake innocence with her question, but he knew otherwise.

"Shut up," and he smashed his lips to hers.

/./././.

Aria looked around the guild as Panther Lily was trying to get out of her hold. She exasperatedly looked at him, "Relax! You're going to conquer your fear today! Gives me something to do while Tessa is with him."

Her eyes landed finally on the blue haired woman she was seeking, "Juvia!"

The woman looked up from her tea and confusedly looked at the approaching mage, "Yes Aria?"

"Can you come with me? I'm going to help Lily with his fear of thunder but the sun is out today. I can create the sound but it would be better if there was actual storm outside."

She looked between the scared cat and her, "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course it is!" Erza interrupted suddenly, "It is a smart move Aria is doing for you Panther Lily. It is important to conquer your fears! It only makes you better during battle. I shall join you for support and to make sure you're safe Lily."

Panther Lily gulped, but after a moment of silence he was sure of his answer.

"Alright, I'll do it!"

/./././.

Tessa was practically shining with happiness as she sat on one of the tables with her friends around her. Levy had been the first one to spot Tessa coming down from the infirmary for the party and enveloped her in a tight but careful hug. She gave her a book filled with different workouts to strengthen her core after she was done healing. Tessa had appreciatevely accepted the gift and hugged her again.

Mira had done a tremendous job with decorating the guild and preparing a grand feast for the return of her sister. Elfman kept the males from the guild that were trying to hug his little sister at bay, which was rather comical to everyone else.

Those that went to Edolas shared more stories with everyone else. Although the guild had not been aware of what had happened, the Edolas group didn't want to keep anything from them. Besides, it was hilarious for them to tell those that had a counterpart how they were.

Cana was in full party mode, offering to make drinks for anyone that wanted to get wasted in celebration for Lisanna.

Lucy had a thoughtful look on her face as she looked at Natsu and Lisanna talking endlessly. She was so happy for Mira and Elfman. However, she couldn't understand what the feel on her chest was as she saw the happiness in Natsu's eyes whenever Lisanna was talking to him.

Tessa noticed the look on her face and nudged her, "So Lucy, how's your novel coming along?"

The blonde blushed, "How do you know?!"

Levy giggled, "I told her yesterday when I went to see her once you guys got back."

Lucy blinked, "Oh. Well I wasn't thinking of publishing it or anything?"

Surprisingly, it was Gajeel that peeped in from Tessa's side, "Why not? I doubt it's _that_ bad."

Tessa smacked the back of his head and smiled at Lucy, "What he means is, we are sure your novel is amazing and you should share it with the world!"

Lucy appreciated the gesture, "Thank you guys. You know, seeing you two like this isn't as weird as I thought it was going to be."

Tessa blushed when she felt Gajeel's grip on her hip tighten. She hadn't realized he had his arm around her. He grunted, not responding to Lucy's comment. He wasn't even sure what had come over him, but ever since him and Tessa became official, per say, he felt strong instincts to protect her. It' not that he found her weak, she wasn't by any means. Just something within him was telling him to be this way and he had a feeling he knew what it was.

However, he didn't want to ponder in _that_ yet.

" _Why do you always take things so seriously?"_

" _Well I wouldn't have to if you hadn't butt in!"_

" _Look at him—the cat is fine!"_

" _You took it too far!"  
_  
The doors of the guild were busted open and a soaked Aria stomped in, followed by a pissed off and wet Laxus as well. Juvia could only try to contain her laughter as she carried a very calm Panther Lily. Erza was shaking her head at the two electric mages who continued arguing as they made themselves over to the bar.

Panther Lily jumped down from Juvia's arms and made himself over to Tessa and Gajeel. Carla raised an eyebrow at the black cat as she took a bite of her food, "What in the world happened Lily?"

The cat sat down with his arms crossed, "Well, I'm not afraid of thunder anymore."

Gajeel smirked, clearly proud that his cat had overcome his fear.

Tessa pointed at the arguing pair with her thumb, "What's up with those two?"

Juvia sat between Gray and Wendy and answered, "It was going well until Laxus decided to join."

Erza sighed as she too sat with them with a plate with a slice of cake on it, "He basically electrocuted Aria."

Lucy was confused, "I thought she wasn't affected by his magic."

"She can be if she's not expecting it," Tessa quickly said as she remembered the few lightning storms they came across and hit Aria. The first few times had been extremely hilarious.

"Laxus said it had been an accident," Panther Lily said, "However, Aria didn't believe him. They started to fight so the thunder got louder. Juvia was talking to me through it and then there was just a point that it didn't bother me anymore."

"So, in other words you became so traumatized that you're immune to the sound now?" Lucy incredulously asked. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing by the rise of electricity since the other two were _still_ arguing.

"I hope they don't start physically fighting," Wendy nervously said, "Aria is still recovering from her ribs."

"You're such a cheater!" Aria loudly said as she asked Mira for a beer, as politely as she could muster in the current situation.

He snorted and rolled his eyes, "Not my fault you're weak enough for my lightning to get you."

She was chugging half of her beer and then slammed it on the bar, "I am not weak you stupid lightbulb!"

He could literally see the fire in her eyes and he was enjoying it more and more.

He decided to try his luck even further.

From his stool next to hers, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Then prove it. It seems all the time we spent up in the mountains did nothing for you. What a shame, still a sad little weakling."

She pounced on him immediately, both of them landing on the floor harshly as she actually landed a punch on his face. Everyone turned to the brawling pair as they were cursing and throwing punches and kicks at one another.

Cana laughed loudly, "I put 1,000 jewels on Aria!"

She yelped a few times since Laxus had gotten her right on the ribs. That only made her want to punch him harder. She somehow gained the upper hand and was currently on top of him. Bickslow and Gray acted quickly and went to separate the two. It was bad enough Natsu had the tendency to destroy half the guild, however it was worse having two electric mages battling it out. Gray got a hold of her waist and removed her from Laxus. However, she wasn't done. She grabbed one of the stools and chucked it at him, but him and Bickslow quickly ducked as the stool was sent flying and hit Natsu right on the back of the head.

"Shit," Aria, Laxus, Bickslow, and Gray simultaneously said as Natsu turned around, a mad look on his face. His gaze landed on Gray immediately as he forgot the current conversation he was having with Lisanna.

"You want to fight ice boy?!"

"It wasn't me you idiot!"

Natsu didn't listen and he jumped at Gray. Aria side stepped to avoid the rage from the fire slayer and stepped back a few steps as they both started fighting.

Soon after, chairs, tables, and plates were being tossed everywhere.

When an empty barrel was thrown where Tessa was, Gajeel got furious.

"Watch it where you throw shit at salamander!"

Tessa poked Gajeel on his side, "Oi!"

His angry glare turned to her, "What?"

"Didn't I predict a brawl would break out?"

He stared at her confused until it dawned on him the conversation they had earlier today. With a wicked grin on his face, he jumped over the table and joined the fight.

Lucy laughed loudly, "I can't believe you encouraged him to go!"

Tessa shrugged her shoulders, "Natsu was the one that broke the news to all of you before I could. He had it coming."

Lisanna giggled as she sat with the girls since her conversation with Natsu had been interrupted, "Say, Tessa?"

The green eyed girl turned to her surprised, "Yes?"

"How long have this Laxus and Aria been together?"

Lucy giggled nervously, flashes from that night replaying in her head, "They're not dating."

Lisanna gasped, "They're not?!"

Erza nibbled on her cake, "They could have been," she trailed off.

Tessa sighed, "But Laxus is a lady's man and that went down the drain. I'm surprised honestly that they are even friends."

"If pummeling each other on the ground is what you call friends," Lucy said dryly.

Happy giggled, "That's how they show their looooooooooooove!"

The cat wasn't lucky with his comment, since his high pitch mocking voice had been super loud. He easily caught the attention of both Aria and Laxus.

They were both sweating since somehow they had been dragged back into the brawl.

Laxus looked at Aria and then at the cat, "Temporary truce so I can punch the cat?"

"That is if you get to him before I do."

Wendy clearly saw the murderous looks from them two and turned to Happy, "I think you should go Happy."

The blue cat cockily crossed his arms as he saw Natsu coming his way to defend him since he had heard what the mages had said.

"Natsu's got this!"

However, that wasn't the case when Laxus punched Natsu out of the way and Aria lunged at the cat.

/./././.

"Ouch Tessa! That hurts!" Aria hissed as she felt the cotton ball drenched in alcohol pressed against her busted eyebrow.

Tessa rolled her eyes, "Maybe you shouldn't have dropped Erza's cake and this wouldn't have happened!"

Aria winced at the memory. The moment she had lunged, Happy flew out of the way and Aria had crashed into Erza, making her drop the cake.

Erza had been furious and she was the one that put an end to the brawl. Laxus had transformed himself into lightning and quickly disappeared the moment Titania had transformed her clothes into her Heaven's Wheel armor. He knew he could take her on any day, but when Erza was mad over her strawberry cake, he valued his life more.

Her broken ribs throbbed, "I forgot Happy could fly. Stupid cat."

Tessa laughed at her and continued treating the bleeding eyebrow. The girls talked more, finally having a moment to themselves after the whole Edolas incident happened. Gajeel had been kind enough to carry a tired Tessa on his back to the infirmary with Aria walking alongside them. Once they were there, he had left to give them some privacy.

"Is it me, or did you notice Lucy being distant from Natsu the whole night?" Tessa casually asked as she changed her clothes slowly. Aria stopped tightening her bandages and got up to help her, pondering at her question, "Kind of. I was kind of busy kicking ass."

Tessa rolled her eyes as she groaned when she lifted her arms to take off her shirt, "For reals. I feel like she might feel intimidated by Lisanna being back."

Aria helped her put on the oversized t shirt, careful with the woman's bandages and raised her eyebrow, "Intimidated? Lucy could take her on."

Tessa gave her a look, "Not like that. As in, she may feel like she's overstepping or something. Lisanna and Natsu were close when they were children and up until two years ago when she supposedly died. Lucy is now his best friend. She may feel awkward now."

"And Natsu is dense as ever. Maybe. We should talk to her. Ever since I've seen them together it's obvious she has a crush on him."

"I think you're the last person to give her love advise," Tessa teasingly said. She saw the pillow being thrown at her and she laughed. She was about to throw it back when there was a knock on their door.

"Could it be Gajeel?" Aria asked as she got up from the chair by Tessa's bed.

Tessa shook her head, "He would use the window."

Aria shook her head, "Natsu and Gajeel use windows as an entrance. Is it a dragon slayer thing?"

She opened the door and she was surprised to see Bickslow in his own night wear and without helmet shifting from side to side. Aria was confused, so she told Tessa she would be right back and closed the door behind her.

"Is everything okay?"

He swallowed hard, "Are you busy tomorrow?"

She blinked and slowly shook her head, "No, why what's up?"

His handsome face was so nervous she had to go up to him and touch his arm, "Bicks, you okay?"

His electric green eyes finally looked at her, "Can I explain tomorrow?"

She gave him a small smile, "That's fine."

He gave her one himself, "Can I pick you up around five?"

She nodded, "I'll be ready then."

His eyes then sparked brightly and the nervousness disappeared, "Alright cool. See you then!"

She waved at him bye but she was still confused. She turned around to go back in the room when Tessa suddenly opened the door and pulled her in quickly. She closed the door and whirled around, her eyes wide beyond disbelief.

"Did you just agree to go on a date with Bickslow?!"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Feelings

Aria wished badly she could remove the grin that Tessa held in her face the moment they woke up the following day. She was too tired to go to her room in Fairy Hills so she decided to spend the night on one of the beds in the infirmary.

Aria didn't see what the big deal was. She didn't see it as going out on a date with Bickslow. He wanted to talk about something or another with her and that was it. She knew he had been nervous, but she couldn't be sure if it was because he had asked her if she could see him or the reason why.

As she washed her face the following morning, she couldn't help but notice the small bruise on the side of her mouth as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She rolled her eyes since she knew it had been from one of Laxus' punches. It had been a while since she got him all riled up so she couldn't find it within her to be mad at him. She only hoped that he had woken up with some damage.

She went back to her room in Fairy Hills to change into a workout gear but stopped in her tracks when Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Carla, and Tessa were in the middle of the room with cat like grins.

Aria closed the door but kept a hand on the handle in case she needed to make a run for it.

"What are all of you doing here? And when the hell did _you_ leave the infirmary?"

She directly looked at Tessa as she asked that. The woman grin innocently, but Aria knew better than to believe that smile.

"Well—me and the girls were thinking about going out in town for a little shopping spree!"

Aria didn't move from the door, "You have a lot of clothes."

Lucy clapped her hands together, "It isn't for her! It's for you! Gotta get ready for later today."

The sly grin Lucy had made Aria smack her hand on her forehead, "You fucking told them?"

"I only told Wendy!" Tessa quickly defended herself.

"Me and Lucy just happened to overhear the conversation. Fear not! We will make sure you find a fantabulous outfit for tonight," Erza quickly proclaimed.

Aria crossed her arms, "It isn't a date. Besides, _you_ shouldn't be walking around for that long. "

"I healed her as much as I could today. She's fine walking, she just shouldn't battle anyone yet. Just see this as an opportunity to come out with us and have fun!" Wendy brightly said.

 _They've corrupted her too!_ Aria thought as she looked at the young girl. She let out a defeated sigh and went to grab a pair of jean shorts and a shirt to change into.

 _So much for my workout,_ she defeatedly thought.

/./././.:./.

Lucy and Erza had quickly taken charge to take the girls through various shops in Magnolia. The sun was shining brightly above them and Aria just sighed heavily the whole time. Shopping was Tessa's forte, not hers. However, after a while she finally started to let loose. She explained fully to the others how she didn't think it was a date with Bickslow, that they were just going to hang out as friends and she was concerned that something was going on with him.

Lucy and Erza argued on what type of outfit Aria should wear for the night until Tessa stepped in, having known Aria the longest and looked specifically at clothes with the darkest colors.

She felt like a doll as each girl and even exceed picked an outfit for her to try on. She begged them to not pick anything flashing that said 'do me tonight'. The only one that hadn't listened had been Tessa as she had brought her a short blood red dress with a cut on the front that reached all the way down to her belly button. She didn't even try it on.

Lucy hadn't listened that Aria preferred dark colors and brought her something white with pink. She felt uncomfortable wearing the skirt and blouse even though the girls were gushing over her on how good she looked.

Erza had picked a black miniskirt and a blue halter top. She had to admit, the outfit was definitely sexy but it was too much since she wasn't sure what Bickslow wanted in the first place.

At the end, Carla and Wendy had been the ones to pick the outfit that she would wear for the night. Carla had picked a pair of high waisted black shorts and Wendy had picked out a flowy dark purple shirt that was off the shoulders. Since Wendy had noticed Aria had a thing for boots, they found a black pair that slightly had a heel to them.

Aria kept looking at herself in the mirror, clearly impressed with the outfit and she crossed her arms as she looked at Tessa.

"How is it that a twelve year old picked a better outfit than you?"

Tessa stuck out her tongue at her and didn't say anything.

The girls continued on with their day with lunch and then followed by a trip to a perfume store. She was only able to take two steps in but quickly stepped out, her nose not taking it well with being inside the store. She leaned against the stone wall as she waited for them when she caught a sight of Gray walking down the street with his hands in his pocket. She grinned at him and he waved at her.

"Why are you standing out here by yourself?" He casually asked as he finally reached her.

"The girls went in there to check out perfumes but it hurt my nose too much," she dramatically rolled her eyes.

He laughed at her. She grinned at him when suddenly a question popped in her head that she decided to voice.

"You doing okay? With the whole thing of Tessa and Gajeel?"

She felt she had been too forward with the question, but she was curious. Gray seemed like a really chill dude in her eyes, and if he did have a crush on her best friend she would feel bad for him.

He blinked at her and instantly blushed, "I wasn't expecting it but I'm not mad. It's not like I liked her."

She gave him a I-don't-believe-you look.

He lowered his voice, "It was a small crush! Nothing more. As long as the metal rod treats her fine, I ain't got nothing to say."

She smiled at him, but before she could say something else, Tessa came out of the store and grinned when she saw the ice mage.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Just walking around. Natsu pissed me off back at the guild and I left before a fight would start. I didn't want to piss off Mira since she was still cleaning after last night's fight."

"Smart move," Aria said dryly.

/./././.

Aria winced as Cancer did her hair, "Ouch! You're pulling too hard!"

Cancer skillfully used the comb and scissors, "When was the last time you had a treatment on your hair baby?"

Her eye twitched at how his smooth voice was criticizing her hair, "I was on the road for the past seven years. You think I was going to have time to go to a salon?"

The girls had gotten back at three in the afternoon, giving only two hours for Aria to get ready. She still didn't know what the big deal was, but decided to make her best friend happy after the near death experience she went through. Erza had thrown her in the bathtub and washed her hair for her even though Aria insisted she could do it on her own.

Lucy and Tessa prepared Aria's outfit and laid it out on the bed and Wendy brought snacks from the guild.

When Cancer was done with her, he moved her chair so she could stare at herself in the mirror and her eyes widened.

For the first time ever, her hair was straight instead of its wild waves. He had gotten rid of a lot of her split ends and dry hair, making her silver hair silky and smooth to the touch. He barely applied make up on her and he had sprayed a perfume on her that thankfully didn't make her nose burn.

Tessa quickly helped her put on her outfit and as soon as her boots were laced up, there was a knock on the door.

Tessa grabbed her by the shoulders while Lucy opened the door and shoved her out, quickly closing the door behind her. Aria bumped into a hard chest and her face flushed in embarrassment as she felt two hands grab her by the hips to hold her in place.

However, as she caught the person's scent, her heart stopped and looked up.

Instead of staring at a pair of green eyes, she was staring at gray ones.

"Laxus," She whispered. They both seemed to be on a trance. He was frozen in his tracks as he took in how different she looked. However, he found himself missing the usual wild hair of hers instead of it being tamed.

Eventually, she blinked quickly, snapping out of it and took a step back. For whatever reason, she felt self conscious and couldn't look at him in the eye. His hands fell to his side and his jaw tightened as he looked at her.

Through the other side of the door, Tessa had slowly cursed.

"I just shoved her onto Laxus."

Aria hoped her voice wouldn't betray how nervous she was suddenly, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize," he said quickly as he tried keeping his voice in check. He wasn't sure why he was feeling nervous.

She finally made eye contact with him, "What do you mean apologize?"

He sighed heavily since she wasn't making things easier for him, "I was a dick yesterday."

She never expected him to come up to her room to apologize. However, she admitted to herself the gesture was nice, "It's fine, you don't have to worry about it."

He nodded once and then looked at her clothes again, "You're going out?"

And because destiny and fate always got together to mess with her life, Bickslow picked that moment to come down the hallway. She immediately saw the way Laxus tensed as he saw his best friend in regular clothes and without his helmet. Once Bickslow got close enough, Aria found herself in the middle of the two men.

Bickslow recognized the look he was getting from the older man so he tried to not pay too much attention to it. He nodded at him, "Hey man," he turned to her, "You ready to go?"

A little voice in the back of her head told her to not look at Laxus so she nodded quickly, "Yeah, let's go. And thanks Sparky for apologizing."

She didn't look back for the last part and she grabbed Bickslow's wrist and pulled him down the hall and turned, disappearing from Laxus' sight.

Once they were officially in town, she let go of his wrist and she sighed heavily. That had been awkward as hell.

She felt a finger poking at her cheek and she blinked as she was removed from her thoughts, "What?"

He laughed at her, "You doing okay there?"

She gave him a small smile, "Yeah I'm fine. It was just that I wasn't expecting him to be there."

He scratched his dark blue hair, "Yeah, I felt the ecstatic rising in the air the moment he saw me. Not sure why. It's not like we are out on a date."

The relief she felt as he said that washed over her in one quick wave. Bickslow saw the look in her eyes and paid attention to how she was dressed. His eyes widened and panicked, "Don't tell me that you thought you and me—"

She furiously shook her head and waved her hands in front of her frantically, "No! Not at all. You just made my day for saying that. Tessa heard us last night and she got this ridiculous idea and dragged me shopping with the girls."

He laughed loudly, "Are you serious?"

She felt relaxed at his laugh, "Yeah. This is so embarrassing."

He placed his hand on top of her head and ruffled it slightly, "Breathe. Like I would steal my best friend's girl."

Her eyes widened and glared at him, "I am no—"

"Yeah yeah. Tell someone else that lie. But we can get to that later. Let's go eat first."

She grinned at him and followed his lead. Now she felt like she could enjoy herself even more.

/./././.

"Laxus was outside the door? Talk about evil woman…" Gajeel commented as he stared at Tessa from across the table as he ate. Panther Lily was eating his kiwi and stopped as he waited for Tessa to continue.

She nervously laughed, "I didn't realize it until I had shoved her out the room. Then not soon after I heard Bickslow's voice."

The man shook his head, "Surprised that Bickslow walked out of there alive."

Lily crossed his arms, "I have only seen a glimpse of Laxus' personality but he doesn't seem the type to punch and ask questions later."

He pointedly looked at Gajeel as he said the last part and the man glared at him, "He definitely is. You're saying I am?"

Both Panther Lily and Tessa laughed at his expression. However, she decided to not comment further. Gajeel finished eating and he looked at Lily, "You up for a spar?"

The cat grinned widely, "Sure, let's go."

As he was leaving, he looked at Tessa, "I'll be back later."

She waved him off, "Go, I'll be fine."

He smirked at her and without another word, he left.

/./././.

The restaurant where the two of them went was in downtown Magnolia. By the time they got there, the sun was slowly setting. They were quickly taken to a table outside on the porch and they sat down. She had noticed that his mood wasn't the same as before, but once they got their drinks she decided to finally ask him what was wrong.

"You've been quiet. I didn't think it was possible," She said as casual as possible as she leaned back on her chair.

His green eyes snapped up and looked at her and then down, "Well… I need your help. God, I didn't think it was going to be this hard."

Her eyebrow rose as he caught her interest, "Murdering and hiding bodies is my specialty."

She wanted to smack herself, Talk about the irony in murdering…

He finally laughed, "Ok, you see… Well you're a girl, right?"

She gave him a look but he quickly waved his hands in defense, "Don't bite my head off! It's just that I need advise. From a girl. And you're a girl. I can't ask Ever because she would just tease me and not take me seriously. You're literally the only chick I feel like I can talk to about this."

Now her interest rose and leaned forward, "I feel flattered and now I'm feeling really nosy."

And for the first time ever, he blushed.

"Cana's birthday is in a couple of weeks and I wanted to get her something and plan something for her, but I want to get the gift first because I know I will forget," he breathed in as he was rambling, "And I have no clue what to get her."

Aria's eyes widened, "Oh my fucki—you like her!"

He reached over the table and put a hand on her mouth, "Don't be so loud!"

A few seconds passed and he finally let go of her once he knew she would stop freaking out.

His blush spread further, "Yeah, I do. I have for a while. However it's kind of hard having a sober conversation with her."

She thoughtfully tapped her chin, "Well what does she like?"

"Alcohol."

"Besides that!"

He scratched his head as he thought about it, "Clearly not shirts. I want to say purses. Since that's where she keeps her cards. Bracelets. I can tell she likes the color blue."

She smiled at him, "Why don't we finish eating and head down to a few shops? I'm sure we can find her something."

/././././.

It was nighttime at the guild and Tessa sat with Lucy and Gajeel at their regular table. The rest of the day had been relaxing, but the anticipation to know what was going on with Bickslow and Aria was eating her alive. She was on her fourth milkshake and Gajeel didn't think it was possible for one person to have that much sugar in their system at once. But there she was, proving him wrong.

Mirajane was laughing at her as she carried various job requests and placed them on the request board. Lucy noticed quickly there were a lot more than usual and it caught her curiosity.

"Why are you putting so many requests Mira?"

They all caught the glint in her eye, "You'll see soon enough."

Laxus was sitting at the bar and let out a heavy sigh since he knew what time of the year was coming. He left Mira the money for his beer and tip and got up swiftly. He went over the request board and looked for a job that he could take his time in to avoid what was coming. As he skimmed, he couldn't find anything long enough, so he opted out with one job that appeared easy enough. He gave it to Mira without a word to get it approved, something he hadn't done in years and his pride hurt.

However, he knew he had that coming. He knew he should be thankful that it was just that instead of getting kicked out of the guild. Mira gave him a sympathetic smile and told him to be careful. He left the guild, ignoring the curious look Tessa was sending his way.

He looked over at the job request again as he walked down the street, figuring out when he should leave on the train. Something he wasn't looking forward to.

He looked back at earlier in the day when he had gone to Fairy Hills to see Aria. In his head, he had the apology played out. He knew he had punched her in her ribs where she was still healing and he had felt like an asshole for doing so.

He sighed. There was just something about getting her riled up that would really catch his attention. The fact she was calm and collected one moment, but the next she was so riled up it reminded him of Natsu blowing up a building. He hated the fact that she was plaguing his mind more and more with each day. Part of him wanted to look for the old hag to see if she had something to fix that.

Then seeing how she was dressed and how she looked, it had made his heart pump faster. It froze his thoughts and he barely was able to say his apology.

However, it didn't last long when Bickslow got there. He was picking her up and she was dressed up for _him_.

His hand subconsciously gripped the job request tighter as he recalled the events.

As he made his way to his house, when he turned around a corner he froze in his tracks at what he saw.

Aria was chatting away with Bickslow, her eyes glued to him and her smile was the biggest he had ever seen. She was practically glowing at whatever he was telling her. His best friend was relaxed as well, grinning at her too.

The wind blew and Laxus saw her shivering. Bickslow didn't hesitate and put his jacket over her shoulders as they continued to walk. She was carrying a bag and she continued to talk away. She was being so talkative, so care free, and it was killing him that she was doing so with someone else. A part of him, a part of him he hardly ever heard from, was growling viciously deep within his mind. He shook his head and left before they could see him.

It wasn't just a crush anymore, he realized as he made a quick turn into an alley to get home.

It was something deeper and he hated himself for feeling that way.

/./././.

"Are you sure we picked the right gift? What if she doesn't like it?" Bickslow worriedly said as he walked her back to Fairy Hills.

She rolled her eyes, "It's the perfect gift! Stop worrying so much."

He sighed, "It's the first time I have done this for someone. I'm just nervous."

She put her hand on his bicep and squeezed it in encouragement, "It'll be okay. She's going to love it. And you're lucky, she doesn't seem the type that wants flowers and a romantic dinner. I think if you just take her away to some new bar she would be the happiest girl ever."

She let go of him, and as she was walking away, he pulled her back and gave her a genuine hug.

"You have no idea the courage you're giving me to do this. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have the balls to do this for her."

She felt happy at his words and hugged him back, "You're one of the first that took me in into this guild when I joined. You don't even have hard feelings with me for kicking your ass."

He rolled his eyes as he let her go, "Whatever. Lucy was with you."

Her eyes shone playfully, "You're just mad you got beat by two girls."

"I don't mind get tossed around by chicks. I'm not a prude like Freed," and he winked at her, making her laugh loudly.

They had reached Fairy Hills and as they were biding each other goodnight, he stopped her.

"You really don't think something will happen with you and Laxus?"

Her hand covered the door knob but didn't twist it. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

He noticed the way her eyes turned sad as she turned around and smiled at him. But compared to all the smiles she had done that day, this one was sad.

"He is a good guy. Regardless of that asshole personality of his, under that he is a good guy. Honestly, I have never seen him with anyone seriously. His flings don't last."

She crossed her arms, "Is that supposed to make me feel better? The fact that he can't seem to have the maturity to have a real relationship?"

He shook his head, "That's not what I mean. All the women he's been with, they're flings. Women that have seeked him because of his fame, because of his name and power. He hasn't met the right girl— that's why he has never been with anyone seriously. And I should know. I've known that bastard for a long time. I just have this feeling that you are what he needs. I saw something when you guys were talking that night."

She put her head down as she heard his words, her bangs covering her eyes. She pondered for a moment, but she decided to be honest with him. He had been honest with her. He had relied on her to keep a secret and to help him. Only other person that had ever put so much trust in her had been Tessa and possibly Gajeel back in Edolas.

When she looked up, her amber eyes were brimming with tears. His electric green eyes rose in alarm and worry.

Her voice was barely above a whisper, "I'm terrified of whatever I feel for him..."

He walked up to her and hugged her tenderly. She welcomed the embrace, the warmth his body was projecting to her and she cried. She cried due to her honesty of being afraid. She cried because she had stupidly told Laxus he was her friend. She cried because she wished it was the lightning mage holding her and comforting her. She cried to the point that her whole body was shaking and he just held her. When had she cried like that for someone? She wasn't sure.

After a while, she finally stopped and he let her go, but she was still within arms reach. She looked up at him and tried to smile. His eyes were sympathetic as he removed with his thumb the final tear that was falling down her cheek.

"You know, if I had a brother, I wish he was like you," She said with a small laugh, grateful for his comfort.

He ruffled her hair, "Now now. Don't get sentimental on me. I'm your friend. Friends are there for each other."

They said goodnight to each other and she made her way back to her room. As she opened the door, she was surprised to see Tessa laying down on her bed reading a book. She removed her boots and tossed them to the side. She placed the bag for Cana's gift softly on the ground. She had told Bickslow she was going to have Tessa wrap it since she tended to have a talent at that.

Tessa looked up from her book and took in the red in her friend's eyes and her messy hair. Her eyes widened and she got off the bed, wincing slightly as she was still sore.

"What happened? Are you okay? Did he do something?"

Aria shook her head, "No! Everything went great actually. We got something for Cana."

"Wait—Cana? What?!"

Aria went and sat on her bed and Tessa went back to hers.

"He asked me out because he needed help. He likes Cana and her birthday is coming up. He wanted me to help him pick out something."

Tessa took everything in, "Ok, that was sweet. But why were you crying? It's been years since I've seen your eyes like that."

Aria sighed heavily as her chest feeling tighter, "Well one, which I'm sure you figured out after it was too late, I bumped into Laxus in the hallway. It wasn't until right now that Bicks brought him up… I guess I just let everything out that I've been bottling up."

In any other occasion, Tessa would've made a comment to tease her. But she took in her friend's tired eyes and her own eyes turned sympathetic. She got up and went through Aria's drawer to retrieve her friend's pajamas.

"Here, you had a long day. Go to sleep. Mira put new job requests tonight. Let's go on a job tomorrow."

Aria gratefully accepted the clothes, "You haven't finished healing."

Tessa brushed her off, "I'm sure there's something that doesn't involve fighting."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Selection

Two weeks went by without issues. After Aria's night with Bickslow, her and Tessa had found a job that didn't involve fighting and it was there in Magnolia. A small waitressing job for a new restaurant opening up. It wasn't much, but it had felt great going on a job together.

Tessa's and Gajeel's relationship was going smoothly. Tessa was starting to see more and more of Gajeel's sudden protectiveness towards her, and although some other time she would be bugged by that, there was a pleasant feel at the back of her head for his sudden change. He would keep an eye on her on the distance, not really showing as much affection as he first had when their relationship blossomed. But the moment they would be alone it was a whole different story. It was a side that she loved seeing from him. He continued sparring with her, since the woman had healed finally. But in their moments of relaxation, he wouldn't let go of her and they would go back to his place. Her body would instantly flush at the sudden affection but she welcomed it with open arms. The gruffness he was known for was slowly slipping more and more the times they would be alone. She felt beyond happy knowing that his hard mask would disappear for her and occasionally with Panther Lily.

Several of the guild members were rushing on finishing jobs and right away requesting new ones. After Aria and Tessa had gone out on their job and come back, they were confused at the amount of people coming in and out of the guild. They had tried asking what the commotion was along with Lucy but everyone seemed to be too busy to respond. Even Gajeel's curiosity was rising to find out what was going on.

Aria had tried talking to Bickslow but the man would just grin at her and take off in a job. By the following day, curiosity was too much for her that she followed Laxus out of the guild after he got another job request. He was the only one that didn't seem excited at all.

"Yo! Sparky!"

He repressed the groan that wanted to slip out of his lips. Ever since he had seen her and Bickslow together, he had been avoiding her for the most part. He almost turned around, but he opted out from doing so and continued down the road.

She watched him walk away for a second and she bit her lip. She almost shouted out to him again, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She had only seen him act like that once and it had been during the month they had spent together.

When she went back inside the guild, she noticed that the stage was now covered by a curtain with everyone in the guild talking excitedly. She crossed her arms and made her way over to Tessa and Gajeel. Wendy was with them and smiled at Aria.

"The Master is apparently going to do a big announcement!"

She tried to look interested, but all it was playing in Aria's head was Laxus' retreating form.

The eagerness within the guild rose tenfold as various shouts and screams were let out when Makarov took a step on the stage.

Tessa noticed the mood Aria was in, but before she could ask her what was wrong, Makarov spoke.

"Quiet brats!" He loudly yelled. As soon as the shouting turned into small whispers, he cleared his throat and continued.

"In ancient tradition of Fairy Tail, I present the list of wizards eligible to take the S-Class Wizard Qualification Test!"

Lucy's eyes widened, "Say what?!"

"That explains why everyone was freaking out over jobs," Carla commented from Wendy's side.

Aria's eyes widened as she realized the mood she had seen Laxus in. It explained everything.

"I have spent a long time pondering who would be the qualifying wizards for this year. I've taken into consideration their power, heart, and soul. This year there will be nine eligible wizards! For this year, the trials will take place in our sacred grounds, Tenrou Island."

Shouts of excitement increased within the guild. The loud conversations were ringing in Aria's ears as a huge part of her was longing for Laxus. She wanted to run out and find him. She couldn't imagine how he was feeling.

"I have my own personal reasons for all of these mages. Those that will be participating in the trials are Natsu, Gray, Elfman, Juvia, Cana, Freed, Levy, Mest, and Aria!"

Excitement was heard for each name, but the moment that Aria's name was said, the shouting lessened dramatically. Whispers were being heard and she could hear them all so very clearly.

" _She hasn't even been here long enough!"_

" _Tessa should've been the one to be called, she was there to take out the Oracion Seis!"_

" _Is the Master looking for a replacement for Laxus?"  
_  
Each and every single comment was making her sick to her stomach. She wanted to run out of the guild, but she couldn't make her legs cooperate. Tessa was beyond happy for her, not once bothered by the Master's choice because she knew how far her friend had come. She could hear the whispers as well, so she went and stood next to Aria in support.

Mira spoke up, "The trials will begin in one week and in that time, the selected wizards must select a partner that will aid them in the trials."

Erza nodded, "Your partner must be a Fairy Tail guild member and cannot be an S-Class wizard."

Lucy nervously laughed, "I would imagine anyone pairing up with Mira or Erza would definitely win."

Makarov grinned, "We will explain the rest of the details when we reach Tenrou Island. However I can say that Erza will be blocking your path."

Mira smiled as she waved at everyone, "And so will I!"

There were various complaints regarding that. Many knew and felt it was almost near impossible to defeat both of the mages. Gildarts grinned as he shook his head, "Y'all need to stop the complaining. We had to go through this trial as well as you did."

"Son of a bitch, Gildarts is participating?!" Gray gawked at him, clearly not looking forward to that fight.

Natsu hollered loudly, "Oh it's _so_ on!"

Makarov chuckled, "I want the participants and their partners in one week at Hargeon Port at noon! See you all then brats."

/./././.

"Say Tessa, where did Aria go?" Lucy asked as she looked around the guild. After the news of the trials, she didn't see the thunder mage anywhere.

Tessa sighed, "She went to Makarov's office. She wants to pull out of the trials."

Lisanna looked at her confused, "Why would she do that? Anyone would jump at the opportunity of being selected."

Gajeel abruptly sat next to Tessa, "I don't blame her for wanting to step out. You guys didn't hear some of the comments for her being selected."

Lisanna was still confused and Juvia spoke up, "My guess is Aria feels like she would be replacing Laxus if she were to get S-Class. The two of them fought during Fantasia."

"And they trained for like over a month together," Gray added in.

Lucy blinked as a realization came to her mind, "Now that I think about it, Laxus is available to be someone's partner."

Gray gave Lucy a look, "If you were removed from being S-Class, would you want to be someone's partner and have the reminder of what you lost?"

She laughed nervously, "You've got a point there. Say, do you guys have your partners picked?"

Gajeel looked at Juvia from across the table who was fidgeting in her seat, "You got a partner yet?"

The water mage looked at him and shook her head, "Juvia was hoping to withdraw from the trials to be someone else's partner."

Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Shut it. I'll be your partner. Gives me an excuse to fight Erza."

Tessa raised her eyebrow at him, "Really? Former Phantom Lord mages together?"

He scoffed, "We were part of the elite team for a reason."

In that moment, the small bluenette came and sat down defeatedly on their table and banged her head on the table. Lisanna worriedly looked at her, "You okay Levy?"

She sighed, "Jet and Droy won't leave me alone on who I'm picking for my partner during the trials. Their bickering is giving me a headache."

Lisanna grinned, "I can be your partner! You won't have to worry about me trying to impress you. It'll give us time to catch up!"

Relief washed over Levy and hugged her, "Yes! Thank you so much!"

Elfman gawked at his sister, "You're going to be her partner and not mine?"

Lisanna pointed behind Elfman, "I think Evergreen would be mad if you don't pick her as your partner since Freed picked Bickslow."

/./././.

"So there's no way for me to get removed?" Aria asked again as she sat across the Master in the chair, her head bowed down. She had also asked Erza, Mira, and Gildarts to be there.

Makarov shook his head, "No child. I picked you for a reason. It has nothing to do with Laxus if that's what you're worried about."

"I just feel like I'm taking someone's place. Whether I feel like I'm being a replacement for Laxus or I'm taking the spot for someone that deserves this chance, I can't help it."

Erza shook her head, "Your potential is incredible. You came to this guild with little to no control over your magic. That could be dangerous for _anyone_. Yet, you jumped right into a fight that wasn't yours. Yes, Tessa did the same. But she wasn't potentially risking her life. You showed incredible courage. Do not get me started on the Edolas incident. I saw you Aria."

Mira nodded from her spot, "I occasionally get feed back from the employees. Usually it's bad reviews because someone destroyed something or another. But not you. Whether you go on a job with Tessa or just you by yourself, you're remarkable. You have yet to give the guild a huge tab over damages that you did during a job."

Gildarts waved her off like it was no big deal, "You will be fine. Envy is something that sometimes we have to come across at some point in their lives. Anything you hear, ignore it. Being selected doesn't fall on who's been here the longest."

Makarov nodded, "I'm the Master and I feel like this opportunity is great for you. If the selection was based on who has been here first or whatever, I would've picked Natsu to participate in the trials once he was fourteen. It's when I feel my child is ready and I feel that you are ready."

She knew it was pointless to continue to ask him to remove her from the list, so she stood up and left his office after nodding at the other three. She spotted Tessa with some of their friends at the table and made her way over. Loke was there, grinning as he talked to Lucy to let her know their contract would be put on hold to help Gray win the trials.

Tessa saw the look on her face and tried giving her a sympathetic look, "I take it he said no?"

"Yup," she said as her hands when inside her pant pockets and sighed, "Well, I guess I have no other choice. Let's go Tessa."

Tessa grinned and got up swiftly. Lucy spoke up, "I think that was a dead given who you were going to pick!"

Aria smirked at her and then at Tessa. Both girls instantly had a competitive glint in their eyes as they stared at some of the selected wizards for the trials.

"I'm not sure how this thing will work. But best believe I'm not going down without a fight." And with that, Aria turned around towards the exit. Tessa grinned, but before leaving, she wrapped her arms around Gajeel's neck and kissed him on the cheek. He instantly blushed since he wasn't expecting her to do something like that in front of the rest.

"Have fun training with Juvia!" She whispered in his ear, "We end up fighting, I'm not holding back."

His chest rumbled pleasantly as he took in her challenge, "It's on."

/./././.

Both girls combined all the training they were taught by Laxus and Gajeel and combined it into one. They only had a week to prepare and both girls were determined to not be knocked down so easily. The Master believed in Aria for her to possibly make it and she wasn't about to let him down or any of the S-Class mages. For Tessa, this was a bigger opportunity to prove herself to Gajeel and to help her best friend accomplish the S-Class trials. She would have loved to be a participant, but she felt that Aria was the better choice even though Aria didn't agree with her.

They would start off with a ten mile run. Tessa had difficulties to have a continuous step throughout the whole ten miles but by the second day, she was right next to Aria through the whole thing. They would then stretch, both of them helping each other to stretch as much as they could. After that, it was various sets of push ups, sit ups, and squats. Not once did they let the cold air and snow get in the way. It was about them building their endurance and strengthen their muscles. Aria had suggested that for the first four days, neither of them would use magic at all. By the end of each night, they were to drain all of their magic. Tessa had been confused until Aria explained.

"The more endurance we have physically, the greater our own magical energy is the moment we use it. Draining it, it's giving us the opportunity to increase it and letting our bodies rest properly at the same time."

Tessa showed Aria various moves that Gajeel had taught her and Aria caught on to them quickly. Every single day of that week both girls would finish soaked in sweat and in occasions in blood. They would meditate and on the last three days, they would go all out on their sparring with as high as their energy could go.

It was difficult to prepare for such trials in such little time, so they had to do what they could.

It was the night before the trials and both girls laid on the cool grass, both panting as they had just finished a spar. They had done a mini tournament during the last three days. Aria had won one day, Tessa did the following day (something that Aria had been shocked but excited at the same time) and on the third day and final day of training, what it seemed to be a draw ended with Aria being the victor.

Tessa panted as she looked up at the sky, "I-I think you have a shot at this."

Aria snorted, "I still find that difficult to believe honestly. I've heard stories of Erza and Mira from Laxus. He's even had difficulties defeating them the few times they fought. Apparently Gildarts is the true monster of Fairy Tail though. If that's true, I doubt I could beat him."

"You can do it. I'll be there to help. Whoever we face, they have to go against two dragon slayers."

/././././.

Aria was rushing around her room cursing loudly. They had woken up early, but now she felt they might get to Hargeon late if she didn't find her favorite cargo pants. She heard a knock on the door but she didn't bother from getting up from her spot from under her bed as she searched for them.

"Dammit Tessa you don't have to knock!"

She heard the door opening and footsteps coming in. She sighed in relief when she found the pants under a discarded pillow.

 _I need to clean this room,_ she thought as she slowly slid from under the bed. She turned her head and her eyes widened when she saw a familiar pair of boots on the other side of the bed. She gasped in surprise and raised her head, bumping it loudly against the bed.

"Son of a bitch."

She finally came out and held her head as she looked up at him, "What are you doing here?"

Laxus almost laughed at the sight of her pouting on the floor and rubbing her head, "Thought I would catch you before you left to Hargeon today."

He walked around the bed and stretched his hand to help her up. She took his hand without a word and let him pull her up.

"I didn't think you would be back in town yet." She commented as she grabbed the bag on her bed and put the pants in there.

He crossed his arms, "I got back yesterday. Surprise I had when I heard you had been picked."

She stopped what she was doing and looked up at him, "I tried getting out of it if it makes you feel better."

He looked at her confused, "Why would you do that?"

"I haven't been in the guild long enough and almost everyone saw me as your replacement."

He snorted, "I'm sure your boyfriend didn't see you as a replacement."

It was her turn to look at him weirdly, "Boyfriend? What boyfriend?"

He didn't answer her as he turned around to leave, "Just came to say good luck that's all."

He was almost out the door when she finally said, "Are you talking about Bickslow?"

Him stopping was her answer, "Oh my God. You are. You know how ridiculous that sounds?"

He turned to look at her and his scowl was full on his face, "You two are close. He picked you up the other day."

She shook her head and pointed at the pretty wrapped gift on the table of her room, "He had me help him get something for Cana. Her birthday is next week. He wants to plan something else for her and wanted to get the gift out of the way in case he would forget to get her something."

He looked at her and then at the gift on the table and back at her, "Seriously?"

"Yes seriously. Besides, why would you care in the first place?"

And just before he could answer, they both heard Tessa's voice from downstairs, "ARIA THE TRAIN LEAVES IN TWENTY MINUTES TO HARGEON! STOP MAKING OUT WITH SPARK PLUG AND GET DOWN HERE ALREADY!"

Aria's eyes widened and she blushed as she rushed back to the bed and grabbed her backpack. She passed him by the door but him grabbing her hand stopped her.

"Show them what you're made of," he softly said to her. Her heart started beating fast at his encouraging words.

"I will."

And she gave him one of those knee buckling smiles and she took off down the hallway.

Every single one of the participants and their partners made their way to the gigantic boat that would take them to their destination. The determination that they held was blowing alongside with the cool breeze from the ocean. Aria saw Cana talking to Lucy, Elfman and Evergreen were bickering, Natsu was hitting his fist against palm with Happy cheering him on. Gajeel was just casually walking and Juvia had her eyes glued on a shirtless Gray. She was surprised to see Wendy with Mest and both Lisanna and Levy had very determined auras within them as well. She could see Gray and Loke being extremely confident thanks to the way they were walking.

Makarov smiled as he saw all of them nearing the boat, "I hope you are all ready for what's to come!"

/./././.

A few hours into the boat ride, Aria was dressed in her black bikini, soaking in the vicious hot sun that was bearing down on them. No one was expecting for the temperature dramatically increase since back in Magnolia, it had been cold and snowing thanks to the winter weather. Gray couldn't bring himself into doing any kind of magic to keep himself or everyone cool since the hot air and sun were making it difficult to do anything.

Aria had a bandana over her eyes that she kept soaking in water with a bucket next to her and would place it back on her face. The rocky movements of the boat was making her stomach turn and feel extremely dizzy. Tessa was no better as she was laying next to her, however the sun was hitting her back instead of her chest.

"This is how I die Aria," Tessa dramatically said, "I can already read it on Sorcerer's Weekly. Beautiful Dragon Mage dies in horrible tragedy. All what was left of her was a puddle where she last was!"

Aria groaned, "Shut up. You're not making this any easier."

What it felt like forever, Makarov appeared to explain to them their first task the moment that Tenrou Island came into view. Through their headache, both girls were mesmerized by the beauty and size of the tree that was on top of the island.

"It is very simple! There are nine paths for each team to pick. One team per path. In three of them, you could come across one of the S Class wizards and you may continue forward if you defeat them. Two of the paths are battle, meaning two teams will battle it out and the winning may continue forward. One path is a dark labyrinth filled with monsters, and the last is a peaceful path. This trial will be like never before and it starts NOW!"

Lucy blinked, "We are in the middle of the ocean!"

Natsu grinned as Happy took a hold of him, "Bye losers!"

However, he couldn't get away since he slammed into Freed's barrier, giving him and Bickslow the upper hand. Tessa tried breaking the barrier how she had first done it, but her eyes widened when the moment her lance made contact and it didn't even do a scratch.

Aria growled, "That asshole!"

Her eye twitched when she saw Levy and Evergreen successfully rewriting the enchantment in order for them and their partner to pass through. She was already irritated so the moment the barrier disappeared, she grabbed Tessa and focused.

She had only done it once, transforming into her own lightning form, and she was determined to do so again.

The moment she did, the entire ship shook, making those that were still in it fall on their asses.

She grinned and took off instantly.

When they landed at the beach of the island, Tessa jumped from her and threw up instantly.

Aria grimaced, "I'm sorry. I should've warned you that could possibly happen."

Tessa wiped her mouth with her hand, "I thought Laxus could only do that!"

"Remember the race? I did it then."

Three paths had been taken so they opted out on picking the one all the way at the right. They had changed quickly, not having any intentions of fighting in their bathing suits. The cave was long and quiet, making it very difficult for them to see anything even with their own sharp vision.

Aria clapped her hands and the thunder echoed followed by a bright aqua color that would cascade down the cave, illuminating it for them. Tessa had her lance out and she was gripping it tightly as she followed behind Aria. They didn't know how long they had been walking when one of the times Aria clapped her hands and the light went through, that they saw four pairs of vicious red eyes staring at them.

They both stopped in their tracks as the realization set in.

"We got the fucking labyrinth," Aria whispered to Tessa.

"We can do it. Light up the tunnel one more time."

Aria did as she was told when Tessa threw her daggers the moment she spotted the eyes again. Their heard the daggers hit and dig in the flesh. They waited for a moment when they finally heard four bodies falling down to the ground.

They approached quickly and that's when they were officially in the labyrinth. They went left and after a couple of feet they went right and then right again. They kept using their strategy until they failed to see a monster hiding behind one of the corners that wasn't lit up the moment Aria clapped her hands.

Aria hissed the moment she felt four claws ripping at her flesh on her shoulder. She didn't turn around as she moved her hand backwards and blasted the monster.

"Change of plans," she said as she was then engulfed by her aqua blue aura, "Create a wall when we come into any openings. We ain't having no more of this surprise bullshit."

They moved in sync, running down the labyrinth and creating walls to prevent monsters to attack them while they would ambush the ones they could take on. They didn't want to be overwhelmed at first.

Mentally, both of them were memorizing the entire maze so they wouldn't accidentally go through an area they had cleared. They were sweating and covered in monster guts and blood. At first they had tried to kill them as clean as possible, but the overwhelming feel of winning the trials took over Aria and started to viciously blast them.

Tessa had just twirled her lance and beheaded one of the creatures when she called out to her, "Aria, I can smell fresh air!"

Aria sent the three monsters she was battling down the hallway with one punch as the thunder rumbled within the labyrinth and took off to follow Tessa. However, she toppled over and had to lean against the wall.

Tessa turned around and looked at her. She could see purple bags under Aria's eyes and she was sweating a lot more than she should be.

"What's wrong?!"

"My back… it's burning."

Tessa grabbed Aria's hand and pulled it back so she could illuminate her back and she gasped. The four deep gashes from the demon were pulsing a deep purple and red streaks were spreading all on her shoulder blade.

"The thing was poisonous! How come that's not happening to me? One of them got me on my leg!"

Aria grunted as she stood up fully, "My guess is that they're designed to just poison the candidate for the trials."

Tessa was scared for her, "Why would the Master do that?"

"He had to find a way to make this difficult. Let's go. I'm about to pass out."

Aria felt her whole body hot and shiver the more they followed the scent. The more turns they were making, the more they could smell the fresh air but they could also smell a pack of monsters. Tessa made a sharp right and she gasped as she stopped abruptly.

About a dozen monsters were waiting for them near the exit. They could see their fangs and saliva dripping on the floor with the sunlight coming in through the exit. Aria felt her strength fading away and she knew she couldn't take them on hand to hand. They looked at each other and nodded.

" _Thunder Dragon…"_

" _Glass Dragon…"_

" _ROAR!"_

/././././.

Gajeel, Juvia, Cana, Lucy, Loke, and Gray turned quickly the moment they felt the ground tremble and turned to see a rainbow like roar followed by a blue thunder one.

"Holy crap, who did they just blast?!" Gray loudly said. Gajeel smirked, clearly proud by the display of power from Tessa.

"Well, we defeated Freed and Bickslow, you guys took out Wendy and Mest, they went through the peaceful route, Natsu went against Gildarts…" Lucy pondered thoughtfully.

"That either leaves them two against Erza, Mira, or the labyrinth."

And sure enough, minutes later, from the woods came Tessa supporting Aria with her arm over her shoulders. Aria grinned at them but winced in pain.

Makarov then appeared with a liquid in his hand, "I was wondering who had gotten the labyrinth," he said as he walked up to them the moment Aria sat down abruptly on the floor.

Gajeel looked at him confused, "What do you mean old man?"

"The labyrinth was designed with various monsters that are poisonous to the candidate. Any wounds inflicted on them automatically poisons their body and goes directly in their nervous system."

Lucy and Cana were disturbed at how calmly he had said it, "Why would you do such a thing?!" Cana loudly asked.

He smiled at Aria and handed her the bottle. Her pale hand took and quickly downed it.

She coughed as it burned her throat, "What was that?"

"The antidote. You should feel the effects of it battling the poison in a few minutes."

Gray walked up to them with cold water bottles, "Here you go guys. You did good."

"So Lisanna and Levy went… against Erza…" the Master casually said with his hands behind his back.

"That was just brutal," Lucy commented. She couldn't imagine the shape they would be in after fighting the red head.

Tessa's eyes widened, "So Elfman went against his own sister?"

Everyone cringed at that and Aria snorted, "No way they made it through her."

Gajeel crossed his arms annoyed, "I would've taken her on if we would've gotten that route."

However, Aria was wrong as both Evergreen and Elfman came out from the woods, battered and bruised, but successful in having defeated Mira.

The Master smirked at all of them, clearly proud by what they had just accomplished. But he knew the day was far from over. He had everything planned for them and he was looking forward to who would be the next S-Class wizard.

Memories of Laxus becoming S-Class flashed in his mind but he quickly shook the memories away. This was not the time to ponder on such things. He cleared his throat as a determined Natsu walked back to them.

"The second test will begin now. This island is the home of the grave of Fairy Tail's First Master. You must search for the grave and I'll be there waiting for you."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Assaulted

Aria wasn't one to actually question the training decisions of anyone. Her guess is that the training that was involved was picked for a reason. An actual reason. Not just randomly. She had learned that with every form of training she had learned during the years. She had learned you would gain something out of it.

However, she wanted to know what running away from a pack of giant monsters through the jungle of the island had to do with becoming an S-Class mage. She already had her fare share of monsters for the day after what happened at the labyrinth. It was bad enough her and Tessa had started later than everyone due to the potion taking its effects on battling the poison in her body. However, that did not heal the four claw marks. Wendy could've helped however, her and Mest had yet to reach the camp. Makarov had only given them six hours to find the grave, and for the past three hours, her and Tessa had not been successful. They found themselves running more than actually fighting. It was becoming quite irritable for the two mages.

They weren't sure which side of the island they were on anymore. After searching on different paths and fleeing away from monsters to not waste energy, they had not come across anything.

"What was Makarov thinking? Couldn't he give us more clues?" Aria grumpily said as she flicked a mosquito from her arm.

Tessa sighed as she redid her pony tail, "I agree. I'm trying to figure out where we could go but I can't think of anything. How's your shoulder?"

Aria looked up to look at the Tenrou Tree, "I'll live," she sighed, "If only we had an exceed to fly at the top, maybe the grave is there."

"I did see a cute one when all the exceeds came to Earthland," Tessa said thoughtfully, "I should've snatched it when I had the chance."

Aria removed her gaze from the giant tree and looked at her, "I would've felt bad for the cat. You already squeeze the shit out of Lily sometimes."

Tessa gasped, "I do not!"

The golden eyed woman gave her a look and Tessa rolled her eyes. She wanted to keep protesting, but she knew what Aria said was indeed, correct. She blamed it on the fact that Lily always looked adorable in her eyes whenever he would eat kiwis. She couldn't help she liked cute shit for crying out loud.

A ruffling from the bushes startled them. Aria growled as she thought it was a monster and she was preparing a blast to throw when Tessa raised her hand.

"Wait!"

Aria looked at her confused until a familiar scent of salt came across her nose, "Is that—"

Juvia stumbled out of the branches and bushes, her whole arms covered in various bruises and cuts. She was panting heavily, but she sighed in relief as she saw them. She directly looked at Tessa before she collapsed.

"Grimoire Heart… we got ambushed… Gajeel…"

Tessa's heart sank as the water mage's words and ran to her, cradling her body and trying to get an answer from her.

"Juvia, where is Gajeel?"

Juvia groaned, "F-follow the sun."

Aria saw the worry and fury in Tessa, "Go. I'll stay with her and I'll somehow find the camp."

Tessa immediately sprinted.

/././././././././././.

 _Speed wise she had always left it to Aria. Same with hand to hand. She was always more of a 'attack from a distance' kind of thing. Until she met Gajeel. He had kicked her ass so many times after Aria was gone with Laxus._

" _Just give up already," he grunted out as he crossed his arms and looked at her form on the floor. She had scrapes all over her body, she was sweaty, and she was panting._

" _No," she replied as she lifted herself up, arms shaking as she did so, "I can keep going."_

" _You can barely stand."_

 _She finally got up and glared at him, "That's not the point. You were right about me. I do rely greatly on the weapons I create to defend myself. Uzume told me the same thing you did and she wanted me to practice without them."_

 _Her green eyes widened when he plopped down to the grass. He was resting his elbow on his knee and he curiously stared at her, "Why didn't you listen to her?"_

 _She sighed and sat down. It seemed that the training session was over for the day and she could get some rest now._

" _I just… I guess for me it's different to have blood on my weapons than my own hands."_

" _That's a weird ass fucking thing if you ask me."_

 _She laughed softly, "Yeah I guess you're right. But I do need to get better. So I need you to teach me everything you know. Natsu is great..."_

 _He snorted as he gave her a look, "He's a dumb shit. I actually want to teach you. Don't ask me why, I don't have a goddam answer to that, but look how you are now."_

 _She smirked at him and winked, "I'm a big girl, I can handle it."_

She caught his scent and ran faster.

" _Fuck Gajeel!" She yelled out as she held her face and hid her eyes with her bangs. His eyes widened. He had punched her on the face before but she had never cried out the way she just did. He broke his fighting stance and went to her. He kneeled down to check on her since she had dropped to her knees while holding her face._

" _Girl-" he was interrupted when she threw an uppercut, connecting right on his chin. He yelled out and looked at her wide eyed. The woman was grinning, "That hurt right? It better have. My hand is throbbing."_

 _He glared at her and tackled her._

She was getting closer.

" _Why are you mad at me?!" He snarled as he stomped after her. He had caught her on her way to Fairy Hills and when he thought she was going to follow him to train, she had glared at him and took off. It had been a few days after the race and last he recalled, he hadn't done to make the usual happy girl beyond mad._

 _She stayed quiet, not even bothering to look at him. He finally had enough of it. He hated being ignored. He picked up the pace and grabbed her forearm and turned her around._

" _I heard you. I heard you talking to some person in the alley with a weird scent. You were giving them information on Fairy Tail! How could you do that?!"_

 _His eyes widened immediately. He put a hand on her mouth and practically picked her up by the waist with his other arm and pulled her towards the woods. She was kicking and glaring at him the whole time. Once he knew there was no possiblity of anyone seeing them or hear them, he looked at her._

" _Don't be so loud! How do you know that I did that?"_

 _She pushed him off, "I had a job at Era, easy enough for me to do by myself. I was walking back to my hotel when I smelled you. I put a glass shield around me so you wouldn't catch my scent and I saw you. How could you tell me that when you're practically selling the guild that took you in after what you did? I really thought you had changed. That you were different and not the person you used to be."_

 _She kept going on and on until he finally he had enough. He roughly grabbed her by the shoulders and practically slammed her against a tree. The shock for his sudden rough action immediately shut her up._

" _What you saw you can't say shit to anyone," he hissed in a whisper to her, "That's the reason why Makarov didn't appoint during the Oracion Seis fiasco. I'm… fucking shit… I'm a double agent for Makarov. I investigate Raven Tail."_

 _She blinked a few times as she looked up at him, "Why?"_

" _The guild master is Ivan. Laxus' father."_

 _Whatever fury she had felt and disappointed, it quickly went away. She could see in his eyes that he was disappointed at her, for beliving him capable enough to betray the guild. They had been standing so close with each other, she could feel the heat from his body. Her heart thumped faster and he stepped away._

" _You really think I would intentionally do that?"_

 _She despised the tone he had. "Gajeel… I'm sorry… It's just that-"_

" _Since I was in a dark guild it's easy for me to revert to that, isn't that right?"_

 _She could feel her face growing red with embarrassment, "I'm so sorry."_

 _He wanted to walk away from her and never speak to her again. After all, she had judged him. However, his body wasn't cooperating at all._

 _She bit her lip as she looked down, "I won't say anything. I just got extremely scared. I thought... I thought I had lost you to the darkness again."_

 _And it was because of what she said that he stayed and they ended up training that night. She never brought it up after that and kept the secret to herself._

She was getting closer, _Please hang in there!_

* * *

Gajeel groaned in pain as the oversized chicken threw his heavy egg rain attack on him again. It was bad enough he had to avoid the kanji of the other wizard, but the annoying eggs were proving to be more bothersome and intensely hurting his skin.

Him and Juvia had been faring well, but after some of the stuff both dark wizards had said, Gajeel knew they needed to let everyone know that Grimoire Heart was in Tenrou Island to sabotage the trials, so he sent her off.

Yomazu raised his katana once more as Gajeel tried getting up from the ground when he was suddenly thrown away by a strong kick. Kawazu saw his partner being attacked and unleashed his egg attack on the intruder, but every single one of his eggs had been destroyed by sharp pieces of glass. Gajeel's eyes widened as Tessa glared viciously at the Grimoire Heart mages.

She quickly made her way over to him, completely pushing back the furiosity from her inner dragon as it was going insane with the scent of his blood. He got up with a groan and smirked at her. She barely was making her way over to him, when his eyes suddenly widened as he saw the attack from behind her.

He shoved her out of the way and put his hand in front of him as it materialized into his iron club. Yomazu's katana went straight through and Gajeel yelled in pain.

She saw the blood from between the cracks of his iron and it splattered on her. Gajeel was panting as he growled and held on to his arm.

"I… wasn't gonna have you… get in front of an attack again…"

Her eyes softened, "Gajeel…"

"Take out that fucking chicken… I'll take care of this bastard."

She stood up and nodded at him. Her angry green eyes turned to the feathered mage and attacked him quickly with her lance. Kawazu wasn't fast enough. Even when he tried getting distance, he kept slamming into glass walls. Tessa was in pure rage and fury as she sliced at the mage with her lance. Kawazu was trying his hardest to defend himself, but the way her green eyes were flashing in anger, he could've sworn he saw them change color for a second.

 _ **How dare he attack what's mine!**_

She loudly yelled as she got close enough and grabbed him by its throat, cutting all air circulation from him. She heard in the background Gajeel preparing his slayer ultimate attack and and dropping her lance, she punched Kawazu onto Yomazu as Gajeel unleashed it.

"KARMA DEMON IRON GOD SWORD!"

Her and Gajeel panted as the unconscious bodies fell loudly with a thud on the ground. Gajeel smirked, but because of his various wounds, he collapsed in a puddle of blood instantly.

"Gajeel!" Tessa cried out as she ran to him and gently placed his head on his lap. He was wincing, biting his lip from deter him from yelling out loud from the pain on his injured arm. She brushed his wild bangs away from his eyes.

"I... I felt your head inside mine..."

Her eyes widened in shock. How was that possible?

He opened his eyes and lazily smirked at her, "Dragon's Song."

She blushed instantly and found herself stuttering with her words until his smirk widened. She laughed as she could no longer hold the tears that were threatening to fall. She had felt her inner dragon filling her mind in her moment of rage. She knew what he meant by his explanation. Uzume had called it the 'Dragon's Song.' The moment two dragons would find themselves through the courting chapter, if their souls were meant to be, they would slowly start calling each other more, to the point of developing a small mind link. She never expected it to feel it so soon. However, that's how her relationship with him started to develop. It was slow, but eventually it picked up the pace suddenly. She felt embarrassed that he had heard her but knowing that he had already wanted to ask her to take it a step further, it made her heart thump loudly against her chest.

She helped him up and as they started to slowly walk, a worried Juvia, Aria, Erza, and Levy came out of the woods. Aria looked at the shape the two mages that had ambushed Gajeel and Juvia were in and she whistled.

"Remind me to not piss you off."

"Gajeel, are you okay?" Erza asked him as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Like a chicken would kill him," Aria muttered under her breath as she poked the unconscious Kawazu with her foot.

Gajeel attempted to roll his eyes but he was too exhausted, "Like I would let them defeat me. How's the rain woman?"

Juvia approached him, "I'm here Gajeel. Juvia thanks you."

He grunted, "It was the only way they would know they were coming."

Erza's deadly glare turned to the two mages on the floor and approached Yomazu, "Why are you here in this island?"

The wizard laughed through its pain, and Erza quickly threw a blow at him to make him speak.

" Zeref… is here… in the island"

Aria's eyes widened. She had heard the legends of his power, what he was capable of doing. However, the story of Zeref could be traced back to four hundred years ago and there was no way he could still be alive. She had yet to hear of a wizard that could live that long.

Erza was in immediate denial, "There's no way that could be possible!"

Yomazu chuckled, "I would suggest you leave the island… soon the Seven Kin of Purgatory will be here and there is nothing you can do about it."

Erza's eyes flashed and she struck him again, this time leaving him completely unconscious.

Tessa looked at Gajeel's injured form and then at Erza, "The trials need to be stopped."

Erza nodded and she angrily brought out a flare and shot up in the sky, "CODE RED!"

"Where's the camp Erza? I can take Gajeel there for Mira to bandage him up."

Levy got on Gajeel's other side, "If only Wendy was here."

"Me and Juvia will search for them" Erza said with a seriousness in her voice they had never heard before, "Her and Mest never got to the camp."

Aria turned to Tessa, "I'll go back with you and then I'll try finding the rest."

They walked through the jungle for several minutes. Not much of a conversation was said as all of them were worried at what was to come. Grimoire Heart was one of the three guilds that formed the Balam Alliance, making them one of the most dangerous dark guilds in all of the country. They had been successful enough to take out the Oracion Seis, but Grimoire Heart surpassed them.

"This is ridiculous," Levy said worryingly as they continued walking through the jungle, "I don't understand how Zeref could still be alive."

"And why here of all places?" Tessa said confused as she gripped Gajeel's arm tighter to make sure he wouldn't lose his balance, "I thought only Fairy Tail guild members knew about this place."

"I think trying to find an explanation is pointless by this point," Aria said as she looked around for enemies, "They coul—"

She was interrupted as they felt the earth tremble and a powerful magical energy rising at incredible speed. The shaking of the trees were making the birds and other animals that resided on them flee immediately and eventually they heard a loud powerful explosion.

Levy shook, "What was that?"

Aria turned to look at Gajeel and then at Tessa, "We need to hurry. He needs to be treated and replenish his strength. We are going to need everyone battle ready."

Gajeel grunted, "I can still fight."

Tessa gave him a look, "Don't start. You pushed yourself too much. You need to rest for a while."

They continued on until they saw a figure up in the sky. Aria could barely make out who it was when suddenly, various spheres were dropped everywhere in the island. At first thought they were bombs, but the moment the spheres made contact with the ground, the sphere disappeared and it revealed several humans with weapons in their hands.

Aria immediately went battle ready, "Son of a bitch, we are surrounded!"

Tessa raised her palm, "Glass Dragon Shield!"

The bandits were sneering at them, taunting them through the glass with their weapons and cat calling them. Gajeel growled at them as he heard some of the commentaries they were making at the women. Aria's eyes moved through the gaps, trying to see any way out when another explosion was heard, but the ground shook more viciously than the last time. The energy level around them increased, giving them goosebumps with fear.

"What is that magic?" Tessa whispered with her eyes wide as she searched for the location of the blast.

Levy looked around in fear, "What are we going to do?"

Aria looked at the three of them and swallowed. There was no way she could have Levy help Gajeel get to the camp by herself. And there was no way she could ask Tessa to leave Gajeel to stay and fight.

"I'll fight them off. I'll give you the opportunity to move as fast as you can. I'll cover you."

Gajeel snapped at her, "The fuck are you thinking? Do you see their numbers?"

Tessa agreed with him, "There has to be another way!"

Aria's aura started surging out, "I'll clear a path for you and just run. I'll be behind you covering you!"

For several seconds, Tessa held Aria's gaze. She didn't want to, but she knew they had no other choice. Aria gave her a small nod and with a deep breath, Tessa dropped the shield that surrounded them. The dark wizards didn't move yet and neither did Aria and the rest. Her stance was low, her eyes thoroughly looking at them, waiting for them to make the first move.

The moment she saw one of the wizards take a small step forward, she unleashed her attack.

* * *

Laxus was sitting at the bar drinking a beer when he felt an unsettling feel shake through his being. The only times he had felt that way was when there was an impediment danger around, but never while he was relaxing in the guild. He saw his reflection on his cup and sighed. He continued on drinking when he smelt Macao sitting next to him.

"You know… now that the Master is gone, this is the perfect opportunity for you to leave the guild."

The man sounded so casual, like if he was talking about the weather.

"He didn't find the strength to kick you out. Maybe you should return the favor and leave on your own account."

Laxus' gray eyes slowly turned to look at him, "You want me to leave the guild don't you?"

Macao laughed, "Well aren't you smart! Don't you realize no one wants you here? Everyone's afraid of you. It's best for you to just leave already so we can go back to not looking behind our backs."

Laxus silently clenched his fist lightly and bit his cheek to prevent him from lashing out at the older man. He opted out with finishing his beer and getting up swiftly from the stool. Macao raised his eyebrow at his retreating form.

"If you know what's best, you'll leave before they're back from the trials," he sneered.

His lip went up in a silent snarl and left the guild without another word.

* * *

Aria wanted to smirk at the fact that the bandits battling them had been completely useless against her own power. She had blasted them away, giving the rest the opportunity to run as Levy directed her which was the camp was. She received a few cuts from their weapons, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Sweat was dripping from Tessa as she ran, helping Gajeel to remain up when finally, when it had felt forever, they reached the camp.

But they were shocked to see a man fighting both Mira and Lisanna.

The man raise his hand to attack them again when Aria sprinted forward and delivered a covered thunder fist right on his stomach making him topple over. The wizard grunted and jumped back, an emotionless look on his face.

"What is this? A dragon slayer?"

Aria snarled, "Who the hell are you?!"

"My name is Azuma and I'm one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. Now begone you pest. This fight is against the demon woman."

Tessa placed Gajeel against a tree trunk and stepped forward, "Demon woman?"

Mira was panting, "He's referring to me."

"I don't care who you're going after," Aria said in a low voice, "But you're going after my friends and I won't allow that."

Azuma snorted, "Then come at me."

Aria's eyes flashed and she sprinted again, throwing a kick towards his face, " _Thunder Dragon Talons!"_

He dodged it with ease and retaliated with a punch of his own, but was surprised that Aria had been able to dodge it. They fought with ferocity, exchanging blows at one another. Her electricity was flickering everywhere as she fought him in rage. Azuma grew irritated that Mira wasn't joining in the fight and turned to Aria.

"Begone you pest."

Various branches of trees came suddenly from the ground towards Aria. The branches grabbed her arms and legs, leaving her completely immobile. She yelped in pain as she felt the branches cutting the circulation off her limbs. Tessa ran forward, her glass lance in her hand ready to free her but he sent an attack her way, making her fly and slam into a tree, a sickening crack reaching Gajeel's ears as she landed not far from him.

"Tessa!"

Aria's electricity grew and just when she was about to let out her thunder roar, another branch appeared from the ground and wrapped around her throat. She choked as her eyes were wide as she tried struggling against the branch. But the more she struggled the tighter the branch was getting.

Azuma turned to Mira, "Since this isn't working for you to fight me, maybe this will."

Bigger branches emerged and wrapped tightly around Lisanna who screamed. On one of the branches, there was a countdown from a bomb and he laughed.

"The only way to save your sister and your friend is by defeating me. Come at me demon."

Mira was having an internal battle with herself, but she was left with no choice and transformed into her Satan Soul form. However, her magical energy was weak from having to use her transformation when she battled against Elfman and Evergreen. She knew she was not able to last long in her form but was determined to save her sister and Aria.

Levy saw the countdown, "I will try to get rid of it Mira! Hold him off as long as you can!"

Mira sighed in relief but she was still unsettled. She took in Azuma's bait and battled him, but just like with Aria, he had shown that he was far superior in power than them. He was growing excited at battling her, having had heard all the stories of Satan Soul. The countdown continued clicking away and Levy was growing worried as she could not disengage the bomb.

Azuma used the same attack he had used on Aria, but this time as the branches wrapped around Mira, they all exploded in a chain reaction. She cried out in pain as she was thrown to the ground, hissing in pain as she felt the burns on her arms and legs. She used her wings and sent him a blast of her dark energy with all she had, hoping that it was enough.

As the smoke cleared, her eyes widened in horror and her body shook to see that he was still standing from the attack and that he had used Aria as a shield. Aria's head hung lifeless and Mira could see the blood dripping from her head. She was beyond mortified and she could barely register Gajeel and Tessa screaming her name. Her eyes were burning as she looked between Azuma, who had removed the branches from Aria's body and slammed her to the floor, and then at Lisanna.

"Levy… get away," Mira said tiredly as Satan Soul left her body and she was back in her original form. Her eyes were shining in tears and she was smiling at her sister.

Lisanna's eyes welled up in tears, "You can do it Mira!"

Mira shook her head sadly, "He's far too powerful but I'm sure someone else will defeat him. Levy, please run."

Levy's tears went down her face but obeyed. She found Tessa struggling to get up and helped her, bringing her next to Gajeel and immediately wrote a protective rune around them.

Tessa shook her head, "Aria is still out there!"

Levy's hand shook, "I don't have enough time to get her!"

Tessa started to cry and placed her palms on the ground, "They won't die!"

The countdown reached zero and a bright light appeared from the bomb. The energy grew with the blast, obliterating the entire base camp. The ground trembled and cracked beneath. The blast had been too strong that took down Levy's barrier for the last of it.

Several seconds went by as the dust and debris made the three of them cough. They had a few burns from the blast, but they were okay although Gajeel ended up passing out the moment the barrier broke, his injuries being far worse than he had let on. Tessa laid him gently on the ground and got up with Levy. They tried to see through the dust until they heard Lisanna crying.

"Mira…" the girl sobbed, "Sister, please wake up…!"

They followed her voice and Tessa let out a sigh of relief. They were still alive.

Levy's eyes widened as she went to help Lisanna with Mira, "Her injuries should be far worse than this!"

Tessa smiled sadly, "I created glass shields on each of them. I felt them being destroyed by the blast but it withstood most of it."

Lisanna gratefully looked at Tessa, "Thank you so much."

They heard footsteps from behind them and Tessa quickly got in the defensive but she sighed in relief as a limping Aria with a bloody arm and busted head approached them.

"They're not getting away with this," she said to them as she finally collapsed unconscious on the floor. Tessa ran to her, wondering how Aria was able to get up from being so injured.

"Let's try to salvage as much of the supplies as we can," Tessa said as she picked up Aria, "I can smell rain coming soon."

The three three girls, tiredly and worriedly, did what they could to help Gajeel, Mira, and Aria who all were unconscious from their wounds. Lisanna was able to find the backpack with medical supplies and they were able to bandage them up to prevent infection. They hoped that Wendy would turn up soon, since she was the only one capable of healing them somewhat. Tessa sat down and looked over at Aria and Gajeel. Her heart broke seeing them in that condition and she brought her knees to her chest and cried.

 _We can't lose to Grimoire Heart… We can't…_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Showdown

Elfman eventually had gotten to the destroyed base camp with an unconscious Evergreen in his arms. The worry was rolling off of him in waves. Levy and Lisanna quickly helped them, wondering how Elfman was able to make it with all the injuries. Tessa wanted to help him, but she couldn't find the strength to get up, so she let the girls take care of him and Ever. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting down lost in her own thoughts. The dark clouds had covered the entire sky and a rumble could be heard. Eventually, rain started to fall on them. She didn't want any of them to get wet, so she created a glass roof for them to have more shelter. A few times Gajeel had woken up, but he had quickly gone back to sleep.

She was always emotional. That was something that it would never go away from her. She had gotten thicker skin after meeting Aria, specially knowing the girl's past. So she had resorted on being strong for her, to be there for her just on how she was there for her in her own moments of need. She had been there for Gajeel when he had finally spoken about Phantom Lord in more detail soon after their relationship had blossomed. She felt she had to do that for those that would help her, be strong for them.

But who was going to be strong for her as her whole world was crumbling at the sight of the two most important people in her life laying still in front of her?

"Tessa, isn't that Lily and Carla?"

Tessa's eyes widened and she immediately removed herself from the floor and she felt relief seeing the black exceed.

The two cats landed and quickly their eyes widened in horror to see five mages knocked out.

Lily growled as he looked at his partner, "Grimoire heart?"

Tessa nodded stiffly, "They're extremely strong."

Lisanna hugged herself, "There was not much that I could do for Mira."

Carla gave her an encouraging smile, "Natsu, Wendy, and Lucy are coming soon. They have the Master with them but he's badly injured. They'll be here!" She turned to Lily, "I will go back to them and guide them. Stay here with Gajeel."

He nodded to her, as he appreciated her gesture of telling him to stay with his partner.

"Be careful Carla, we don't know how many more are out there." Levy said as Carla started flying.

Tessa watched Lily walk towards Gajeel and sat down, a thoughtful look on his face.

"It was two of their wizards. They got him and Juvia. She found me and Aria and I got to him as fast as a I could. But not fast enough…"

She trailed off as her eyes filled with tears again. Panther Lily approached her and put a paw on her hand.

"He's going to be fine. So will the rest. What matters is getting everyone together."

Tessa felt small hands gripping her shoulders, "We got this Tessa. Everyone is going to make it."

She smiled at Levy through the tears. However, an unknown scent reached her nose and she froze. She slowly got up and Lily followed her, having gotten the scent as well.

A tall man with slicked back silver hair, coat, and glasses emerged from the woods. He was walking casually up to them, a smirk plastered on his face as he liked at all f them.

"You know," he said, his voice dripping with fake concern, "It is a shame really. The world is just filled with superiorities and _we_ are far more superior than all of you."

Tessa wasn't sure about the amount of magic power coming from him, but it made her nervous since there were five knocked out guild members and Lisanna was still weak from the attack from Azuma. That only left her and Levy to defend everyone alongside Lily.

He transformed into his battle mode and that's when Tessa saw a few of his scratches from a preview fight.

She was getting ready to attack since she didn't want him to get closer, when a powerful aura of magic was felt like a shockwave. Levy trembled by her side.

"That magic power… it's incredible."

Lily clenched his fists, genuinely worried as another powerful wizard was in the island.

Tessa pushed the fear in the back of her head aside as she lunged forward and attacked.

" _Glass Dragon Wing Attack!"_

He smirked at her, " _Golden Shield!"_

The shield appeared and stopped her attack, but she didn't stop there. Her blood was pumping and she was more forceful with each strike. Her fists were covered by sharp pieces of glass and she kept striking at him. She was trying to push him back as much as possible to not let him get near the wounded. She knew his shield was deflecting her attacks, since various cuts were appearing all over her arms and some in her face, small trails of blood dripping down her body. She ignore the burning of her body due to the wounds.

They felt like thousands of hot needles digging in her body.

But it drove her to fight even harder.

Levy and Lily quickly joined her, but he was showing that he was a lot more capable of doing something than just using a shield. A dark aura exploded within his body and sent the others back. He removed the shield and he quickly transformed his right arm into a sword. Tessa's eyes flashed and she created two glass long swords and dashed forward again. He dodged her with ease and he sent his arm to attack Lily and sent him painfully on the ground. Hearing the exceed grunt in pain made her furious and she finally got him to fight her. Lily, through his pain, was able to see how much of a ferocious mage she was when she was fighting with her glass weapons. Even Levy was dumbfounded as well. It reminded her a lot of Erza by the way Tessa was handling the swords. Rustyrose started to get annoyed and on the first opening he saw, he kicked her away.

Levy immediately jumped in, "Script: FIRE!"

Shots of fire shot out at a high speed directly towards him. He was hit by one of the shots and he sneered at her. He jumped over Tessa's form as she was getting up and attacked Levy, using the claw like part of his sword that was on the tip and threw her to the ground. Lisanna transformed into her bird animal soul, but the girl had yet to regain her strength and she was easily defeated.

Tessa growled and yelled as she started to unleash various attacks with her swords but he created wings out of his back and flew upwards, avoiding her attacks. He knew there was the possibility of losing if he stayed in the ground against her.

She jumped in the air, ready to strike him down, when suddenly, a metallic beast appeared in front of her. The dark wizard laughed darkly and ordered the monster to attack. Its claws made contact with Tessa and she crumpled to the floor with a loud pop. She saw the beast approaching her, ready to attack and she prepared herself for the impact by putting her hands up in an attempt to create a shield.

" _SEITH MAGIC- LIVING PUPPETRY!"_

The beast stopped moving and its glowing red eyes turned green.

" _CRUMBLE!"_

The beast was destroyed in front of her and she could only stare in shock. The blast sent shockwaves in the beast's radios, sending its original master to the floor. She felt someone helping her up and she immediately felt relieved when she saw Freed holding her.

"Freed! Bickslow!"

"We saw the red flare in the sky," Freed quickly said, "We were with Gildarts going back home."

Lisanna and Levy cried out in happiness. There was no way Grimoire Heart could win now.

Freed's eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared at the dark wizard, "You dare to attack our guild members?" his eyes swept to the others, catching quickly Evergreen's unconscious form, "You dare to attack a member of the Thunder Legion?"

He didn't say anything, but the moment he tried attacking them, Freed turned into his Shadow mode and attacked him with his own dark power. The wizard skidded in the ground, his eyes wide as he stared at them.

Bickslow cracked his knuckles, "Get up!"

The dark wizard seemed mortified for a second, but his face twisted into a sinister smirk and he laughed loudly.

"FEAR HOW NOW BEEN WRITTEN INTO MY IMAGINATION! FORWARD! BRITTIA'S SPIRITS! EAT THE SOULS OF THOSE FAIRIES!"

Dark purple shadows that were transformed into twisted and terrifying faces making its way to them, moving around them and wrapping around their bodies like a horrific blanket.

Tessa smirked, "So… this brings back memories."

She felt her inner dragon rumbling pleasantly as her heart started to beat faster. The wind of the storm around them stopped blowing as she closed her eyes and concentrated on her magic. Her gray scales appeared and her eyes were in their bright pink color. Her rainbow aura moved around the shadows, shielding her, and the magical energy grew with each second.

Lisanna gasped, "Her power…"

"I've just read about it not that long ago!" Levy quickly said, "A dragon slayer's ultimate form. Dragon Force!"

Even Freed and Bickslow took a step back as they could feel her aura increasing. It was a beautiful sight to see.

"I think your shadows need to disappear," She brought out the same staff she had used against Midnight, when suddenly, a thunderous crash could be heard and the earth shook wildly. They could all hear the snapping branches, and a low groan echoed.

Levy's face was mortified, "The Tenrou Tree!"

They all witnessed the magnificent tree fall into its doom. The moment it landed on the ground, Tessa's dragon force disappeared instantly and she fell to her knees.

"M-My magic…!" She gasped out as she gripped her chest. Bickslow and Freed weren't in any better conditions, both having to fall down as well. Their bodies were going in a slight shock by the sudden loss of their magical energy. Tessa grunted, clenching her fist since she had been so close to defeat him.

"It seems that Azuma destroyed your precious tree," He cockily said as his shadows covered their bodies, "But how rude of me! I have been so entertained playing with all of you that I didn't introduce myself. I'm Rustyrose. One of the Seven Kin Purgatory that will take your meaningless lives!"

He laughed as they screamed in pain and horror. Levy and Lisanna could only stare at their friends, horrified for what they were going through. Rustyrose approached each one of them and kicked them several times.

Tessa was gasping for air the moment he stepped on her stomach, to the point that she screamed in pain.

Gajeel's eye slowly opened and his ears rung to the sound of her screams.

Bickslow tried getting up but he couldn't, "Leave her alone! Come at me if you have the fucking balls!"

Rustyrose's eyes flashed in annoyance and delivered a kick to the face of Bickslow.

Tessa was gagging as she regained her breathing, "You'll pay for this…"

She wasn't sure for how long Rustyrose kept attacking them, when suddenly, she felt her energy back in her body like if it was bathing her. She could feel her inner dragon again in the back of her head and she flipped her body. She wasn't sure what the hell was going on within the island, but she could worry about that later.

She dashed at him and kicked him with a strong roundhouse kick followed by Freed and Bickslow.

Rustyrose landed face first on the ground and screamed, "THAT'S IT YOU STUPID FAIRIES! TOWER OF DINGIG!"

Before they realize what was going on, they were all pulled back by a magnetic type force into a gigantic tower that he produced from the ground. Their bodies had become one with the tower and they were immobile.

Tessa struggled with all her might like the rest, but it was futile. They could feel the tower rumbling and they knew if they didn't get out of it soon, they were done for.

Tessa's mind clicked and she inhaled as much of the air as she could.

" _GLASS DRAGON ROAR!"_

Rustyrose didn't react to defend the attack fast enough and he was hit full on by the power of her roar. The tower instantly disappeared, leaving all of them free. Bickslow quickly used his babies for his Baryon Formation, the green blast following right after Tessa's roar, and for good measure, Lisanna flung Freed and he struck Rustyrose with his sword.

Gajeel smirked. In any other situation, he would've called that overkill.

They were all panting heavily, anticipating for him to get up, but he never did. Tessa was exhausted but she thanked whoever was above that it was finally over. She highly doubted she would've been able to defeat him if it hadn't been for Freed and Bickslow.

"Come on," Freed said from behind her, "Let's take care of those wounds."

/./././././.

She took a small nap to replenish some of her strength, but she immediately woke up when the scent of burnt wood reached her nose. She sat up, but Lisanna quickly told her to take it easy.

"Some of the cuts are deeper than others, take it easy."

She Lucy laying Cana down when Wendy gasped and quickly ran to them, "Oh my- I'll treat everyone immediately!"

Tessa shook her head, "Too many of us. You need to save your strength."

Carla nodded, grateful that someone was voicing her opinion, "She's right. All day you've used a lot of your magic."

Natsu's eyes were wide in disbelief, "Mira and Gajeel… Even Aria…"

"Don't forget about Cana and the Master…" Lucy said, her eyes quickly becoming sad.

Tessa looked at them. That's when she noticed the small form of the Master laying alongside Cana, "The Master? How?"

Natsu's eyes narrowed, "It was Hades, the master of Grimoire Heart."

Lily hopped on Tessa's shoulder, being mindful of her wounds, "Their ship is in a bay to the east of us. It seems we are going to have to split up in two teams."

Levy nodded, "One for attack, the other one for defense."

Lucy looked around them, "But who's going to go attack Hades? More than half of us are knocked out…We don't know where Gray and Erza are!"

Tessa looked at Gajeel and Aria and shook her head, "I'll stay here and defend. I can't leave them."

Freed agreed, "I'll stay with her and write an incantation to protect the place. Levy, will you help me?"

The bluenette nodded. Bickslow shook his head, "I feel weird leaving the Master alone here."

Freed sighed as he brought out a damaged lacrima from his robes, "I'm just hoping that my message was delivered..."

Natsu bumped his fists, "Well I'm definitely going. Happy? Lucy?"

Her eyes widened in fear, "Um-well… I-"

"I'm going too!" Wendy suddenly declared. Carla objected quickly but Tessa nodded at her, "I know you can do it Wendy."

"I'll go," Panther Lily said as he looked at Tessa, "I'll get revenge for Gajeel."

The rain started to fall harder followed by a loud thunder. It rumbled and groaned, the loudness echoing to a mere growl. The moment Natsu heard it, his eyes shot up and looked at Aria's unconscious body. She had a bandage around her head, her wild silver hair spilling everywhere from it and she had various bandages on her arms. He stepped over Gajeel's body and picked her up.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled at him, "What are you doing?! She can't come with us! Look at her!"

Tessa tried getting up, "Natsu!"

He ignored all the complaints as he carried her body and then placed her on the ground. He quickly stepped away and watched her.

"That poor girl is going to get pneumonia!" Carla chastised him.

The thunder rumbled again and a shot of lightning came down from the dark sky. The moment it touched Aria's body, it turned automatically blue and it grew thicker.

Tessa's eyes widened, "Her energy is being replenished…"

Another thunder rumbled and lightning crashed again, this time, the color intensifying in brightness that it blinded them for a second. When they could see again, Aria had one hand on her knee and she brought down her left fist, cracking the ground underneath her.

"We are finishing this," She growled at them.

/./././././././

They ran through the jungle, their shoes stepping over puddles and stepping on mud. Levy had tried convincing Aria to not join them since some of her wounds were still open. One look at Tessa and then Gajeel, she was determined to go and fight. She knew her power wasn't fully replenished, but it would do for the meanwhile.

They were surprised when they came across battle wounded, but not their spirits, both Gray and Erza.

"You with us?" Natsu asked him, his voice serious, with no hint of his usual playfulness. Aria was admiring that greatly. There was no moment to fool around. The two wizards nodded and followed him.

They reached the bay with ease and in front of them, was a ginormous ship. The red emblem of Grimoire Heart was visible, mocking the fact that it was there in the sacred grounds of their guild. They could see Hades' shadow standing at the front of the ship, glaring down at them. He stood there for a moment, staring at them, but then he turned around and walked inside the ship, his dark cape flapping behind him with the wind.

Natsu stopped glaring at Hades' back and turned to the exceeds, "I need you three to find whatever is powering up the ship."

Aria agreed from his side, "That thing moves, and we are screwed."

The exceeds agreed and quickly took off, finding their own way into the ship. Wendy was worried about the ship moving and just to be safe, she casted the troia spell on both of them.

Their eyes flashed and Gray readied his ice make magic, "This is it!"

He created a stairwell for them to reach the ship. The moment it reached the top, they took off running. Erza quickly going into a battle plan.

"We need to hit him with everything we got from the beginning!"

"For the Master!" Gray said as he pushed his limbs to run faster up the stairwell.

"For our friends!" Wendy added in.

Aria's electricity crackled as she was right behind Natsu, both dragon slayers ready to do the first offense of attack towards the tyrant.

 _I heard what that bastard's minions did to my friends. What he did to Makarov who has believed in me since I first came to the guild with Tessa…_

Hades came into view and she glared.

 _You're done for!_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Revenge

She never felt such fury until she made eye contact with Hades the moment he became visible. The anger was like hot lava coursing through her veins as he smirked at them, and both her and Natsu attacked first.

"WE HAVE A MESSAGE FROM MAKAROV!" He roared as he raised his fire engulfed fist.

"SUCK ON IT!" Aria screamed as she brought both hands in the form of holding a ball and let her attack with Natsu. Hades raised his hand and shielded himself from the attack, but both Erza and Gray attacked him on quickly. Erza requipped to her Black Wing Armor and Gray brought out his Cold Excalibur. They slashed at Hades and he narrowed his eye at them.

Lucy called on to Taurus and Wendy casted her Vernie spell on Aria, Gray, and Erza. Their speeds and aura increased as they went to attack Hades. He kept dodging them and used his claw like chain to catch Erza and throw her against Gray. Aria took this opportunity and caught Hades off guard.

" _THUNDER DRAGON WING ATTACK!"_

He yelled as the attack made contact and Natsu followed along with one of his own, hitting Hades with all his strength. His eye flashed in anger and shock, never suspecting for those of Makarov's guild to hold such power. Aria came at him again, both legs and fists covered in her thunder as she tried using her speed and cat like movements to do as much damage as she could to him. He found himself getting pushed back by her attacks and he grew infuriated. The same claw that he had previously used on Erza, he used it on her.

She gagged the moment the claws grabbed her by the throat and he spun her body and threw her to the ground. She flipped her body so she wouldn't land on her head when she felt an arm grab her by the waist and she felt the magic from Wendy and Lucy surrounding her.

Natsu had grabbed her and had pulled her inside the unison raid with him.

His fire erupted from his body and she followed along with her own magic. The size of the unison raid intensified and they both spun at a fast speed towards Hades. Natsu let go of her the moment Hades came near. Natsu head butted him in the stomach and Aria punched Hades right at the same time as Natsu made contact. They sent the dark wizard flying and crashing into a section of the ship. Smoke was everywhere and various pieces of the ship flew from the destruction.

They both panted heavily. Aria was on her knees when she felt Natsu putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and he helped her up.

There was a glimmer of hope that they had defeated him, but fear and shock was shared within them as they saw his silhouette from the smoke. He had his arms crossed and he was walking casually, like if they hadn't just thrown everything they had at him.

Aria heard Lucy gasp in fear and Aria bit the inside of her cheek, to the point that blood was drawn.

"People often refer to their errors as 'learning experiences.' But true errors never become learning experiences. The error you committed was to stand against me. And you will not have the chance to learn from it."

The aura that was around him was completely different than the one she had felt from him when they first started to fight. Aria clenched her fists.

"That was all of our power…" Gray said in complete and utter shock.

Wendy was beyond terrified as she took a step back, completely mortified by the amount of power Hades possessed.

He smirked at them, "Now that the warm up is over, shall we begin?"

There was a tense moment as they prepared for his attack. They could see everything around them vibrate as his power pulsed from him. However, they never expected him to stand there and scream.

It was the most horrific and mind shrilling thing Aria had ever heard in her life. His scream completely paralyzed her entire body and her eyes widened. She heard a small gasp from behind her and when she turned around, Wendy's body completely vanished, her clothes falling to the ground.

Aria felt her heart snapping in two as the conclusion that he killed Wendy reached her mind. She didn't pay attention to the way Natsu's voice cracked the moment he yelled at her, or how she could smell the scent of tears coming from Lucy.

All she could see was the murderer in front of her and she acted out.

"YOU BASTARD!"

She flung herself at him, calling whatever of her magic was still with her and hit him with her thunder dragon iron fist. He slid by the force of her punch, but he maintained his face stoic, but inwardly he winced at the pain her attack had caused him internally.

He threw a punch, but she was too fast for him and she dodged it. She could feel the dread feeling of losing Wendy spread more and she shot her hand forward. Out of it, a lightning type whip came out and wrapped it around his neck. Hades' eyes widened and just as he was about to raise his own hands, she used her left hand and with her whip, trapped him. She could feel him struggling so she used the whips to electrocute him. Hades finally had enough and with almost no effort, he was able to regain control of his arms. He grasped the whip on his neck and then yanked it. Aria was not expecting for him to be physically incredibly strong and her slim form was sent flying back to the group. Natsu quickly caught her and held her down as she was attempting to get up to go at him again.

"Let me go!" She screamed as she tried prying Natsu's arms from her chest and waist, "He killed Wendy! Let me go!"

Her screams were so raw and filled with emotion as they echoed within the ship. Erza couldn't find herself to move as she stared where Wendy had been standing. She didn't know if they could do this. He had almost killed Makarov and little Wendy was _gone_.

"Her death is nothing compared to how each one of your deaths will be. They'll be gruesome and you will suffer."

His eye made contact with Aria's seething golden ones, "You'll be next and it'll be worse."

She was about to cuss at him, when a voice interrupted what she was going to say.

"It's okay everybody! I'm okay! I'm up here!"

Aria felt Natsu's grip lessen and she turned around. Her eyes widened to see that one of Lucy's spirits, had appeared and saved Wendy last second. She slumped against Natsu, completely and utterly grateful that she was alive. The spirit explained how his danger detector went off and barely had time to just save Wendy's physical body. He provided her with new clothes and disappeared, but letting them know he could only save one person.

Natsu let her go as they got up, her gaze never leaving Hades'. He raised his eyebrow at them, a small glint of being impressed.

"Makarov's children are fairly amusing." He pondered as he stared at them.

"You know the Master?" Natsu asked, clearly wondering how Makarov could know such a vile man.

He chuckled, "What? Are my records gone from the guild's library? I was once the second master of Fairy Tail. I went by the name of Precht."

None of them believed it. How could Fairy Tail have had such an evil man as its master? It went everything against what the guild stood for. Aria tried getting a hold of Natsu, but he had moved so fast she had barely felt him move. He tried attacking Hades, but it was futile the moment Hades retaliated.

Pointing two fingers at Natsu, a dark purple energy ball appeared. It grew in size and then it attacked Natsu. Aria tried running to him, but Hades quickly sent one her way and then at the others. The floor beneath them crumbled, and she could all hear them screaming in pain. She saw two chains appear and getting a hold of Lucy and Erza. He slammed them together and then he made the chains explode, sending both girls screaming into the ground. She saw Natsu get up and running at Hades, but he pointed his fingers to Natsu like if they were a gun and fired.

Hades started firing shot after shot to all of them. She had tried avoiding them, but her body wasn't moving fast enough. The purple orbs were immensely painful and she found herself screaming in pain as she finally fell. He was laughing at their suffering, and she tried her hardest to get up but she couldn't. Through her squinting eyes due to the paint, she saw Hades approaching Natsu and kicked him, making him yelp and land at arms length from her.

Her arms were shaking and her nostrils were filled by the scent of blood from her and her friends.

"H-how did you become master? Kicking an opponent when they can't defend themselves? Talk about coward! You're are just a fucking fossil who—"

She screamed loudly as she felt him stomp on her back.

He did it over and over again.

"Leave her alone!" She heard Erza in the distance.

"GET ME INSTEAD!" Natsu roared as he made it into a sitting position. Hades rose his eyebrow at him and since he was so close, he swiftly kicked Natsu on the face and then went back on stomping on Aria.

She could hear Lucy crying, "Please stop…"

"Tell me, do fairies have tails?" He mockingly asked them as he stopped, his foot on top of her back. She coughed and blood was spat out the moment she did.

"It was a mistake for me to appoint Makarov as third master. He changed the guild! Made it weak!"

Natsu protested as he raised his head, "What's so wrong with change!?"

"Too much light has shone upon magic."

"That's what Fairy Tail is! We risk our lives to live!"

Hades looked at him with a bored look on his face and raced his hand in the gun like sign and fired at Natsu multiple times. The others were screaming at Hades to stop, but he continued firing at Natsu over and over again. She could feel Lucy's voice going raw from how much she was screaming.

 _No… Natsu can defeat him… I know he can.  
_  
Aria coughed from underneath his boot and laughed. It was broken and without emotion. Hades stopped torturing Natsu and removed his foot from her body.

"Why are you laughing you stupid girl?"

She was breathing heavily as she sat up. She could hear her body complaining with each shift of her joints and muscles, but she got up. She could barely stand as she glared at him.

"You're…just mad…that Makarov was able to accomplish something with Fairy Tail… something you couldn't do because you're just a pathetic piece of shit and Makarov surpasses you in every single way."

She accumulated saliva combined with blood and spat it at his face. His visible eye widened in disgust and fury as he felt the wetness landing on his cheek. With the last of her strength, she landed a hit on him, successful enough to send him back a couple of feet. The others eyes widened at her sudden strength to push him back, but their eyes were filled with dread when they saw the murderous look on his face.

"This is the end for you, you insolent wench!"

She fell to her knees as her legs gave out and she could feel him getting ready to finish her off.

Her eyes dropped in defeat and she managed to smirk a little.

 _I'm sorry Tessa… I couldn't do it…_

 _… Aria? Aria, what's going on?!_

 _Thank you…_

 _Aria don't do this! Just wait a little! Help is-_

She abruptly cut off the link and she closed her eyes. Laxus' face came into her mind and her heart felt heavy.

She heard them screaming her name, she could feel the attack coming closer to her.

And then she heard the most powerful sound of thunder she had ever heard in her life. Through her closed eyes, she could feel the entire room being covered in lightning as it stroke down in front of her, with Hades screaming in pain, and her whole being was bathed in a familiar magic power.

"That mouth of yours is always getting you in trouble."

His voice was low, but she would recognize it everywhere. Her eyes snapped open and tears fell down from her eyes in disbelief as a familiar powerful body, completely covered in lightning, was at a defensive stance in front of her.

"Laxus…" she whispered in shock.

He heard her whisper his name and it took everything in his power to not turn around and take her away. His whole senses were going wild at the scent of her blood. His inner dragon was practically clawing the back of his head to be let out and rip Hades apart. If he had been just a second late, she would've been dead.

Dead and never coming back.

After his talk with Macao, he had been contemplating the whole day of doing what he was told. Leaving the guild. He had felt wrong going back in the first place. He had desired to run away from the very beginning once he had come with the realization of his mistake. But she had appeared in the picture. Wild, without much knowledge of her own power, of her own potential. Confused and scared to use it. Day after day it had been a constant arguing with her back and forth. But then the day came he had to take her to the hospital and things changed. He saw her differently and he found himself desiring her in ways he had never felt for anyone else.

He was in his room when his emergency lacrima had gone off. He could barely hear Freed's anxious voice through it, and although he couldn't understand a word he was saying for bad signal because the lacrima Freed held was damage, he took off instantly.

He had never traveled as fast as he could in his lightning form, ever. He took advantage of the storm that was harboring around the island to replenish his magic. He had found the camp first, and he was mortified to see his grandfather unconscious from his wounds, to see a lot of people that he did care about beaten to a pulp. He was there when Tessa went into hysterics and he took off and he made it _just in time.  
_  
Hades couldn't understand why the man in front of him looked familiar and where all the magic power was coming from. Not one of his followers held as much power as the man in front of him did.

"I can't believe all of you got plummeted by this fossil," he said, the typical cocky attitude that Aria hadn't heard in so long clearly evident now.

"I was just getting started," she replied back to him. She heard him snort and she felt her heart soaring.

"What are you doing here Laxus?" Erza asked him.

"I was actually packing my bags to leave the guild," He said, ignoring the gasps of shock, "But I got a signal from the emergency lacrima that all Thunder Legion members have. Tessa was panicking and I came here."

Laxus glared at Hades, "Since I'm already here and the island harbors Mavis' grave, how about I dig yours too?"

Hades quickly recognized the glare immediately, but before he could comment on it, Laxus head butted him. He groaned and sneered at Laxus.

"You're Makarov's grandson?"

Laxus glared in response. Hades dark purple aura started to appear, dancing in a deadly motion around him.

"My—what a shame. To think that poor Makarov could be burdened with such a propomtous grandson."

Laxus aura started matching Hades, when suddenly, he jumped forward and started attacking him viciously.

All his attacks were connecting. He was not missing a beat even with Hades attempting to get some distance, Laxus was right there within a second. His lightning was crackling like never before, leaving all of them dumbfounded. Erza knew he was strong, but the strength he now was demonstrating was leaving her in utter disbelief.

Hades however, quickly took notice that Laxus was trying to create as much distance as he could between themselves and the silver haired woman.

"Why do you keep pushing me back away from her specifically boy? Does she matter to you?"

His eye widened as he got his response. Laxus did his lightning roar with such force and power, that even Aria felt a small glimpse of fear towards him. He teleported in front of Hades and made the fight into hand to hand. Hades was able to land a kick on him, sending him away. He used his chain effect and grabbed a sphere from its stance. He started using it like a ball and chain, swinging it around in attempt to crush Laxus. The others barely had the strength to somewhat move out of its way, but Aria was completely immobile. Laxus left his fight with Hades and disposed of the sphere.

Hades blasted him quickly and then he conjured a spell as he moved his fingers. Purple magic rings appeared around Laxus and his gray eyes widened.

"Is that an Amaterasu formula?!"

Aria's eyes widened as the attack hit him, a dark sphere completely covering him. The magic of it was so powerful, it sent all of them flying. She groaned as she slammed against a piece of wood.

"Those hit by its power completely loose mobility from their limbs, there's no way you'll be able to get up."

Natsu laughed and Hades looked at him confused, "Look again old man."

When he turned around, Laxus had transformed in his lightning form again and kicked him with a trembling force on his back.

Laxus stood up at his full height and glared, "To think that was just one leg. I still have the other one and two hands."

Aria had never been so proud of his arrogance.

"YOU CAN'T BEAT ME!" Hades screamed as he went to attack Laxus with his fist. However, his purple energy was being pushed back with Laxus' own fist.

The contrast between the black and purple with his bright yellow was both beautiful and terrifying. Aria just realized, how dangerous Laxus could really be. The fight against Faust had been nothing compared to the amount of power he was demonstrating in that moment. Even back in Fantasia, it was nothing. If he had fought her with that much power in Fantasia, she either could've been dead or horribly injured. This was the power that he held and it was downright terrifying.

Hades saw that he was being overpowered and looked over at Aria's form watching from the sidelines. He smirked evilly as he shifted the direction of his punch and directed towards Aria. Her eyes widened in horror but she gasped when Laxus had re appeared in front of her and took the full brunt of it.

He was panting heavily as he removed his hands from his face as he had covered himself, but he then collapsed on his knee.

Her eyes were frozen in shock as she realized that Hades' attack had affected his limbs. He couldn't get up.

She crawled to him and she wrapped her arms around his broader form. She could see that he was pale and sweating as he fought for control over his body.

"Get away from me," He whispered to her as Hades started walking to them.

Her voice shook with her reply, "No… I'm not leaving you!"

"Laxus, get up!"

"You can do it man!"

"Aria, get out of there!"

He turned to look at her, his eyes serious and desperate, "He's a monster Aria, he's going to kill me and you need to get away from me."

Her eyes were pleading to him, "I'm not leaving you. I said I was going to stay by your side and that's exactly what—"

"Oh," Hades laughed mockingly, "Am I interrupting a lover's quarrel? Pathetic."

Laxus turned to him, "Fuck you old man."

"Love is the most pathetic emotion anyone could ever have. It's worthless that only brings weakness."

Hades powered up a blast of his dark magic and fired. Laxus' eyes flashed and he stood up. His body was protesting and straining itself, but he stood and he wrapped his arms around Aria. She looked at him, in hopes that he had regained some strength and was going to get them away, but instead, he used the last of his strength to throw her body towards Natsu, her whole being covered in his lightning.

She felt Natsu catch her with a grunt and she felt Laxus' magic leaving her body and going to Natsu. But that didn't matter to her as she stared in horror as the blast hit Laxus in a haunting explosion.

" **LAXUS!"**

Tessa put a hand over her chest as she stopped tying the Grimoire Heart members that tried to ambush them. It took almost all of the injured to be able to defeat them completely, but they knew it was now over.

She had been vicious with her attacks. Aria's link cutting off in that manner had worried her in no end, so she took out her stress on their unexpected visitors.

Gajeel smelt her distress and went up to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and got low to whisper in her ear.

"Are ya ok?"

She breathed in heavily, "I can't reach her, but I feel her distress."

She felt him squeezing her shoulder and she turned around. Her green eyes were filled with unspilled tears. She wanted the nightmare to end already. It had been too much in just a day for them. His scowl went away and he stared at her with such soft eyes, that he would usually only use for when they were alone, and pulled her in an strong embrace.

"She's going to be okay. He's there."

She gripped at his shoulders with all her might, "I hope."

/././././.

 _No no no no...  
_  
Nothing mattered to her right now. It didn't matter how Natsu was completely beating the shit of Hades with his magic and Laxus' lightning. She didn't care that the others were yelling at her to stay put as she used her elbows to move her body to where Laxus was in a crater in the middle of the ship. She didn't care how her blood was coming out of her elbows and forearms as she moved through the roughness of the floor and through the debris.

 _Get up Laxus!  
_  
She rolled into the crater the moment Natsu did the most powerful dragon roar that could have ever been done by a dragon slayer. The ship shook with intensity that she painfully had landed on more rubble and a piece of metal had dug itself in her thigh.

She yanked it out without a second thought.

 _You can't do this to me!  
_  
All she cared about was the dumb blonde that had thrown her away like a doll and took the full blast. The way her heart was feeling was ten times more painful than the soreness and wounds of her body.

If it wasn't because of her sharp hearing, she would think that he was dead.

She finally reached him, and she didn't know what to do. His eyes weren't open and he was just laying there.

 _Fuck fuck fuck!_

However, it seemed that it wasn't time for the lightning dragon to die just yet. Just as she was staring at him, trying to figure out what to do, his eyes fluttered open with a groan. She sighed in relief and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Laxus, can you hear me?"

His gray eyes were empty but finally came to focus and gave her a slight nod.

She sighed in relief, but as she looked up from where they were, she was already dreading the climb back up.

 _At least he's alive..._


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: To answers a reviewer's question! They way I picture her magic different from Laxus, is that the lightning strikes are thicker. Her attacks are louder as well. It's extremely similar to his but the color and texture of it are different.

I only own Tessa and Aria. Enjoy!

Chapter 23: Dawn

After Natsu's roar, Laxus felt like they had finally done it. He knew there was no way for him to continue going against Hades. Specially with the dark wizard starting to target Aria. He knew Natsu was strong. The kid had way too much potential to become a strong wizard and he inwardly respected the kid. Although that was something he was not going to admit to him any time soon. He wouldn't hear the end of it and Natsu would immediately challenge him. Yeah, he was going to keep that thought to himself. Him transferring his magic to him was the best that he could come up with to give them the chance to win.

And it had worked.

Aria had put his arm around her to support him, but as they both stood, he noticed that she was placing more pressure on her left leg. That's when he saw the gaping hole on her right thigh through her torn pants.

She noticed the look on his face and she snorted.

"Sorry I don't look my best right now."

He grinned at her and she only rolled her eyes, quickly looking away as they slowly started to walk. He was about to call to either Gray or Erza to help them up, but he froze in his tracks.

She felt him tense and she looked up at him confused. Suddenly, they could hear Hades' voice and she felt a shiver go down her spine.

"That damn Makarov raised some impressive bastards," they heard him say, "I don't know how many decades it's been since I've taken this much damage."

They could hear the other's beliwerdment at the current situation. Laxus couldn't believe that Natsu's attack hadn't wiped the old man out. It was supposed to. Just how powerful was the old man? The air around the entire ship started to change, the sudden rise of magical power suddenly becoming overwhelming and terrifying.

The urgency to get back to the others overcame them and they climbed up as much as they could. Aria was the first one to reach part of the edge and helped Laxus up. She could feel the dark energy behind her and it was making her agitated.

Laxus cursed as shadow monsters were appearing from behind her. He could barely find the strength to be standing up as he was slightly swaying. However, Aria was still on her knees and she was staring at the demons. She couldn't look away. She was beyond afraid as her eyes were wide.

Their snarls and growls were terrorizing.

"What is this," he heard Aria whisper from his side, "I'm so scared…"

She sounded like a small little girl in that moment. He was overwhelmed to protect her and not let any of the shadow beasts to get to her. However, he even found himself having difficulties to move. The fear was surreal. It was the most horrific thing he had ever felt.

But hearing Natsu speak through the horror of the shadows brought a different light to them.

"Fear isn't 'evil'. It only allows us to learn our own weaknesses… When we learn our weaknesses… people can grow stronger and kinder! We learned our own weakness right now… So what do we do next? Grow stronger! And face them head on! There's nothing to fear! We're not alone!"

Laxus could feel a small ping of courage coursing through his body. He looked at Aria who still had not moved and kneeled in front of her. He gripped her shoulders and shook her slightly.

"Don't let it get to you. You're stronger than this. Look at everything you have accomplished. Come on Aria listen to my voice! Listen to what Natsu said!"

She felt her body numb as she was in a trance of fear, but through it, she had heard Natsu. And then Laxus, his voice, it was like that dim light at the end of the dark tunnel. She could feel her heart and soul being pulled out of the darkness that she was falling in. The constant abuse she had gone through as a child had been repeatedly been playing in her head.

Her vision focused again and she found herself staring back at a pair of worried gray eyes. She could feel the shadows starting to get near them as she used the last of her destroyed shirt to create a tourniquet. A demon got too close, but Laxus was able to punch its disgusting mouth away from Aria. They could hear the others going after Hades, so they did all they could to reach them since they were further away from everyone else.

Laxus had barely enough time to cover Aria with his body from the explosion Natsu created the moment he clashed into Hades. The entire ship shook with intensity and it rumbled loudly as a huge part of it was completely obliterated. The wind blew around them mixed with the scent of the ocean. Dawn was approaching as they could now see the sky.

Hades was panicking, his glowing red eye wide in shock as he stared at Natsu.

"This can't be!"

The pink haired man ran forth and punched him with a strong upper cut, sending him flying to the ground. The demons around him turned black and various cracks appeared in their bodies. The moment they started to fall into pieces, the ashes faded away from the wind. Natsu kept going at him, not holding back as all the pain that Hades had caused amongst the guild kept playing in his head.

Suddenly, a loud groan could be heard in the distance. Both Aria and Laxus turned to see the Tenrou Tree going back to its original form, no longer in ruins. All of their guild marks started to glow immensely and they could feel their magic energy being restored as well. Their gazes met and they knew what they had to do.

They both saw Hades retaliating his attack to Natsu, and the moment the fire mage was down, both mages jumped at the opportunity. Aria ignored the intense pain of her leg and sprinted. Both raising their fists simultaneously, electricity crackling around them, they attacked a shocked Hades.

"Come on Fairy Tail! Attack!" Laxus loudly yelled.

Hades was about to blast Aria as he shook his head from the shock and pain, but Laxus quickly grabbed her by the waist and jumped out of the way.

Hades' energy was slowly fading away. He knew his demon heart had been destroyed. By what? he was not sure. But now, he had to face the wrath of Makarov's Fairy Tail.

Lucy called out Capricorn who instantly started throwing various combos of kicks and punches to Hades, who was beyond furious to see the celestial spirit on the side of his enemies.

Erza kept slashing him with her sword. Gray kept using his ice make magic to create any weapon he could come up with to strike him. Little Wendy was retaliating furiously with her wing attack.

Wherever Hades was being thrown, there was someone waiting for him to attack.

He came close to Aria, but she jumped in the air as her hands glowed a vibrant blue, _"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Cerulean Thunder Clash!"_

Hades screamed in agony at her electric attack. It was overwhelming as he felt spasms all over his body, but true fear spread through his being as both Natsu and Laxus were going after him. Natsu's flames had lightning around them and Laxus glared as they came close to Hades.

"A taste of your own medicine! _Lightning Dragon Breakdown Fist!"_

As he punched forward, a similar but giant fist of lightning came out of his magic circle, straight to Hades. The man screamed as he felt his muscles and joints going completely immobile, the attack being extremely similar to what he had used against Laxus.

 _NO! THIS CAN'T BE!_ He thought with horror as Natsu's eyes flashed.

Laxus collapsed on his knee and could only smirk as Natsu yelled out, _"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Crimson Lotus Exploding Blade!"_

The flames and lightning covered Hades completely and pain succumbed into his own very soul. All of them found themselves panting, but their gazes weren't wavering as they saw Hades' form collapsing on the ground. There had been too many times where they thought they had defeated the fiend, but he would rise once again.

The seconds that they waited felt like hours for them.

However, he never rose. Natsu let out a victory battle cry and Aria could feel the relief in her chest as she sat down, completely exhausted. The rest of them smirked from their spots, accomplishment of what they had done evident in the air. The dark clouds dispersed and through the horizon, the sun emerged, its oranges and reds illuminating the start of a new day.

"We did it," Lucy said in a breathless whisper.

One by one they started to get up, Lucy giving Natsu the scarf that he had almost lost. Aria felt a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't bother looking up. She placed her hand over his and squeezed it. She was greatful that he had come in when he had. She was grateful that all of them were alive. Wendy made her way over to her, quickly ripping her sleeve to use it as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding from the woman's thigh. She was too weak to use her healing magic on her.

But their moment of peace didn't last long. Panic shouting from Lily, Carla, and Happy reached their ears. Lily immediately saw her, and although she wasn't Tessa or Gajeel, he always found comfort in the thunder mage's arms. Aria's eyes widened as a mob of dark wizards and bandits were chasing the three exceeds at full speed.

"Great," Aria muttered as she tried getting up.

Laxus went into a defensive stance and groaned, "I'm completely out of magic energy."

Gray let out an irritated sound, "You gotta be kidding me!"

"Aw man! I have zero energy on me!" Natsu complained as Lucy helped him up.

Erza winced as she glared, "We will stand together!"

The mob however, didn't reach their goal as the first row slammed into a glass wall in an instant.

Aria's eyes widened, and as she turned around, her heart leaped.

Everyone was there. They were battered, covered in wounds and bandages, but they were there, ready to back them up. Laxus couldn't help but smirk at the sight of his grandfather, up and about, since the last time he had seen him he was completely knocked out.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Makarov's voice rumbled across the broken ship. The mob stopped shouting as they realized that Fairy Tail's master was in front of them. It left them dumbfounded, but fear and panice spread the moment they saw their master knocked out in between the rubble.

"They defeated Master Hades!" They shouted in fear as they lowered their hands and weapons.

"Get off this island immediately!" Makarov said with a terrifying glare.

They didn't think twice and quickly scattered. The few emergency boats that were left intact were quickly filled and the last few jumped quickly into the ocean. Once the last of them were gone, Tessa dropped the shield.

Shouts of celebration and excitement quickly erupted from the guild. They had done it, something that had been seen as impossible at first, they had done it. They took out a second guild from the Balam Alliance. And although he was happy with what his children had accomplished, he couldn't help but worry about the last dark guild standing.

Tessa quickly went up to Aria, enveloping her in a tight hug the moment Lily jumped off her arms and went to Gajeel. Neither of them could help it as tears streamed down their faces. The tears were filled with relief and fear. It had been a close call and Tessa had been beyond worried and terrified when the link had abruptly cut off.

Eventually Aria hissed as Tessa accidentally bumped her leg onto her injured thigh. Tessa pulled away and gasped as she saw small trails of blood coming out of the improvised tourniquet Wendy had done.

"We need to treat that right away!"

Aria was about to say something when Laxus picked her up in his arms. Aria blushed as she wasn't expecting that from him at all. He looked down at her, but she wouldn't meet his gaze.

Tessa was biting the inside of her cheek to stop her from commenting at the sight in front of her. Aria looked like she practically belonged in his arms that way and she desperately wanted to tease the woman.

"LET'S CONTINUE WITH THE TRIALS!" Natsu's shouting suddenly cut in through all the conversations everyone was having. Cana looked at him like he had grown two heads alongside Lucy.

"Say what?!"

Natsu started moving his arms in a boxing motion, "The last part of the trials was interrupted so it doesn't count! I say we decide the winner with an all time battle!"

Everyone blankly stared at the fire dragon.

The Master pinched the tip of his nose, "Tessa."

The mage understood and with the snap of her fingers, Natsu was trapped inside a glass box before Gajeel could get to him. They could hear Natsu screaming, but his screams were muffled.

"Several layers of glass will muffle his voice," she said nonchalantly when Natsu suddenly collapsed.

"How did that happen?" Gajeel asked as he tapped the glass.

"Side effect of eating something other than fire," Erza said with a tired voice but then rose it as to attract everyone's attention, "Let's get back to the camp! We shall rest and continue treating the wounded."

Some of the others helped the group that had gone after Hades immediately. Bickslow had offered to take Aria so Freed could help Laxus walk back to the camp, but he had refused to let them help, let alone carry her.

"You should have let them help you," Aria said tiredly as she leaned into his shoulder. Might as well get comfortable since it seemed that he wasn't putting her down any time soon. Although she knew she still wanted to yell at him.

Tessa had removed the glass box from Natsu and she helped Lucy carry him back to their place. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened between Laxus and Aria since he was showing more signs of being a bit overprotective.

* * *

When Makarov had repeated the news of ending the trials with no winner, it had brought multiple complaints. However, realization of the severity of the situation settled in some. Too much had happened for them to continue. They had been infiltrated by a member of the Magic Council and Grimoire Heart had appeared. Gajeel was one of the ones that was still complaining and he was not even nominated to become S Class. Natsu was still the one pressuring the master, until Makarov agreed. He told Natsu that unless he defeated him in battle, he would become S-Class.

Gajeel snorted as he crossed his arms, "I even know better than to challenge the old man."

Lily and Tessa looked at him, "You were not even in the trial!"

Natsu was defeated in less than two seconds.

Natsu had left to mop around in the woods with Happy. Lucy and Cana had gone to bathe in herbal plants at a nearby spring.

"You should be good now Laxus!" Wendy happily said as she wiped some sweat off her forehead. The small girl had been trying to heal everyone as much as possible once they had gotten back to camp. Whenever she felt her energy was somewhat better, she would heal someone else. The sun was baring down on them, completely bringing back the tropical weather from the island again.

"You need to rest," Laxus said as he got up and put a hand on her head, "You did well today."

The small child blushed but a radiant smiled spread in her face, "That means a lot Laxus!"

Erza walked up to them, "He's right Wendy. You were excellent! I can take over for you and take care of the others."

Wendy's eyes brightened, "You have healing magic Erza?"

"I highly doubt she does child," Carla commented as she skeptically raised an eyebrow at the redhead.

Laxus gave her a look, clearly not believing she had accomplished to master such a lost magic.

The red head smirked as her body shone in a bright light and she now stood before them in a nurse outfit. Laxus rolled his eyes as Erza went into a long explanation. Some of the guys complained loudly to see Wendy be put aside, but some of them cut in front of the line to be one of Erza's patients.

Aria snorted as she limped towards them, "Gajeel, you go in that line and Tessa will castrate you."

The iron mage stopped in mid step and slighlty flinched. His red eyes turned to Tessa, who had her hip cocked to the side with an eyebrow raised as her green eyes were flashing. He gulped slightly and went to sit next to Lily.

Laxus snorted and that immediately caught Aria's attention. She glared at him, "You and me got to talk."

And without waiting for a reply, she turned around and stomped away. Although that didn't look as menacingly as she wanted it since she was limping. Laxus sighed, and with hands in his pockets, he followed after her.

Levy saw them off and she went up to Tessa, "She looks pretty mad."

"Where are they going?" Evergreen immediately asked, "I was hoping that Laxus would have a talk with Elfman after the way he treated me."

Elfman's eyes widened, "How did I treat you?!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes and so did Lily.

Gray went up to them as he tried getting away from Juvia, "Well, we all heard him say he wanted to leave the guild when Freed called him in their emergency lacrima."

Lisanna's eyes widened, "He was going to leave?"

Tessa bit her lip, feeling slightly bad for the man, "Their conversation isn't going to be pretty."

Mira giggled, "They're so cute!"

* * *

She kept biting the inside of her cheek as she felt her thigh throbbing from where the metal rod had gone through. Wendy had helped, but the wound was still open and now that she was walking on it, she was making it worse.

A small clearing came into view and Laxus leaned against a boulder as he waited for her to say something. After several minutes of silence, she whirled around and punched him in the gut. He toppled over as the air was knocked out of him. He looked up to meet her flashing golden eyes. He had never seen her that angry before.

"You were going to leave the guild? Why?"

The disappointment dripping from her voice was like a stab in his chest. He regained his breathing and stood straight as he looked down at the small woman in front of him. Although she was taller than Tessa, who was barely taller than Levy, she was still small compared to his taller form. She barely reached his chest but he knew too damn well to not underestimate her.

"Just thought it would be the best," he quietly replied to her as he removed himself from the boulder and walked a bit away from her.

She glared at his back, "So you just were going to leave the guild behind? Your family behind?"

He snorted, "My so called family still hates me for what I did."

She was furious as she limped towards him to get in front of him again, "Did you see those back in camp? They were all grateful you came! Makarov is clearly proud of you! It's evident on how he looked at you when he saw you back at the ship!"

He rolled his eyes, "It's a moment of gratitude. The moment we are back in Magnolia it's going back to the same shit."

"So you were just going to leave without a word?"

"Yep."

"You were just going to leave me like that?"

His fist clenched as he had his arms crossed. He turned his head and didn't say anything.

She took a deep breath as she tried calming down the fury that was bubbling in her stomach, "You are better than that. I'm sure someone told you something and made you want to leave. You have the tendency of listening what others have to say about you. Hence why you got into that little mess a while back."

"It's easier for you to say. You don't have to deal with their whispers, with the looks."

"Get your head out of your ass for once! Have you forgotten that I killed someone in front of my best friend? She never held it against me."

His eyes finally flashed, "That's fucking different! That woman and the rest of your family abused you. My grandfather raised me and I turned my back on him. He could've died Aria and I would've fucking regretted it for the rest of my life."

He grew angry at himself as he felt his voice break due to the emotion of his rant. Aria immediately noticed and without a word, she limped towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist, completely shocking him. Her head was buried in his chest and she just held him with as much strength as she could.

"Your family is glad that you're here," she said softly against his chest, "Don't make them upset by leaving. We need each other. We need you."

The shock wore off and he slowly wrapped his arms around her. He buried his face on the crook of her neck and broke down. He felt utterly pathetic by getting emotional with her, but he couldn't help it. She was giving him that comfort that he's been needing ever since what happened during Fantasia. He held on to her, like if his life depended on it, and she just let him. She moved her hands to wrap them around his neck and she started to run her hand through his soft but slightly coarse hair.

She closed her eyes tightly, I want to open my heart to you… but I can't let myself…

He wasn't sure for how long they were in that position, but as he finally pulled away, he found himself inches away from her face. Her eyes widened as she took in the redness of his eyes. She moved her hand to his face and wiped the last tear that was lingering by his scar. He found himself breathing slightly faster as his heart thumped by the warmth of her hand.

He wanted her.

But just as he was going to make the bold move of moving his head closer to hers and hope that she would reciprocrate, a haunting roar reached their ears and made their blood grow cold.

By the time they got back in the camp, everyone was panicking. Tessa saw her, her face ghost white as she approached them.

"That's a dragon roar."

Aria's heart dropped to her stomach as she jumped form Laxus' back. There had been no way she would be able to keep up with him the moment they had taken off back to camp and he had immediately placed her on his back, "Say what?!"

Wendy ran up to them, "I would always recognize that sound!"

Laxus growled again, "I thought dragons were instinct."

Gildarts shook his head, "This ain't a regular dragon. I know that sound. That's Acnologia."

"There it is!" Lily loudly exclaimed.

They all looked up to the sky, and long and behold, the dragon of the apocalypse was flying above them. It was huge, with blue and black scales, its eyes wide and menacing. Their eyes were wide with disbelief, horror, and fear. Tessa found herself moving to Gajeel's side and wrapped a shaking hand around his arm. He could feel her shaking, and an overwhelming feel to protect her took over him and he glared at the beast above them. He grabbed her arm and immediately put her behind him. He would be damned if she died in front of him.

"T-this is surreal," Freed said.

"What is it doing here?" Cana asked out loud.

All Natsu was seeing was an opportunity to ask the whereabouts of their dragons, but he was quickly interrupted by Gildarts.

"Don't provoke him!"

However, it had been too late. Acnologia flew down on them, the wind knocking some of them down, and it landed on a nearby cliff and staring at them. Pieces of rock of various sizes flew out with the intensity of its weight. The dragon aggressively bared its huge and dangerous fangs at them.

"We need to get out of here!" Erza quickly said.

Acnologia roared and flew down again, this time destroying part of the jungle and ground around them as it landed. They all scattered as they jumped out of its way. Tessa looked up in horror to see Aria behind one of Acnologia's talons.

"Aria!"

"We need to run to the ship!" Gildarts yelled out.

Lucy shook her head, "We can't leave her!"

"She will die!" Happy cried out.

Freed and Bickslow, being the closest to where Aria was, ran up to the injured woman to get her out of Acnologia's way, but it was futile. The massive dragon whirled around and slammed them with its tail. It viciously growled and hissed at them. Aria could only stare in horror to see her friends slamming into the ground.

Laxus tried to move to her next, but the dragon had been faster and almost got him with its mouth. Levy kept seeing the body language of the dragon and her heart sank with realization.

"It's not letting us near her!"

"We need to do something!" Carla cried out as she was worried for the other woman. Lily desperately wanted to fly to her, but he was unsure if he possessed the enough speed to avoid one of the dragon's talons.

"Like hell it isn't!" Laxus growled again as he attempted to get to her one more time. He had been faster, but just as he neared her, the dragon used one of his upper talons to slam him away from her. Aria tried getting up, but her leg was in more pain than before. She could only stare at them in fear and in shock. She couldn't have them risking their lives for her when they could evacuate.

"Just leave!" She cried out to them, "Just save yourselves!"

Gajeel growled, "Fuck no!"

"Don't say that!" Tessa begged her.

Makarov removed his shirt, "When I give you the signal, get her Laxus."

The blonde got up with a wince as he stared at his grandfather, "What?"

Makarov gathered his energy and turned into his giant self. Acnologia saw him instantly as a challenge and charged forward. Makarov took a hold of its head and neck, using his legs to anchor himself from getting pushed back by the black and blue dragon.

"GET HER NOW!"

Laxus didn't waste any more time and did as he was told. He wrapped his arms around her and quickly moved out of the way. She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck as she had a horrible feeling at what Makarov was doing.

"RUN TO THE SHIP!"

They all protested immediately.

"We can fight too!"

"Master, we are not leaving you!"

"A man never runs away!"

 **"DO AS I SAY! AS MY LAST WISH RUN TO THE SHIP YOU DAMN BRATS!"**

Laxus froze as Aria went limp in his arms. Natsu wasn't giving up however.

"GRAMPS! THIS IS WHAT I WAS TRAINED TO DO! LET ME FI—"

Laxus passed Aria to both Gajeel and Tessa and got a hold of Natsu's shirt and pulled him away , "Not today kid!"

He started walking away as he tried holding back the tears. He always loved his grandfather. He had admired him but then resented him. He hated himself for doing so, for causing so much damage. And if leaving and taking everyone with him back to the ship was what his old man wanted, that's what he was going to do.

They all ran, following his lead immediately. But Aria wasn't having it. With whatever strength she was mustering, she limped at him and removed his hand form Natsu's shirt.

"Let's go back!"

He didn't turn to look at her as he continued on.

She got in front of him as her voice broke, "We can't leave him. You know we can't."

Wendy, Tessa, Gajeel, and Natsu found themselves looking at one another and nodded. The rest of the group looked at each other and then at the ship. The decision was made.

Hearing his agonizing screams made them run like never before. She could see Acnologia's form over Makarov's, but she pushed herself even more so. Screw her messed up leg. Natsu ran forward and leaped on the beast's body. Acnologia was confused, but he shook Natsu off like a fly, but the young man wasn't giving up as he jumped on the dragon again. She quickly went to Makarov and his eyes widened.

"N-no! H-he's here for something! You must leave!"

Laxus snorted, "I was all for going to the ship, but your guild has demonstrated to not follow orders in various occasions. That's what makes it into your guild old man."

Makarov could only cry as he looked at his grandson. Erza gave the order and everyone immediately started to attack. However, none of their magical attacks were having an effect on the black dragon, even as a unison raid.

"Our attacks are futile!" Erza yelled out.

Tessa held her hand to Aria, "You sure you're up for it?"

She nodded in determination, "Let's do it!"

Tessa and Aria held hands and loudly started to call out their spell.

 _"Mighty Dragon_

 _Thunder my anger_

 _Lightning my might_

 _Bring to me clouds,_

 _Black as night_

 _Oh thy thunder_

 _Come to me now_

 _To use my glass_

 _To light the dark!"_

From within Aria, a massive eruption of thunder came out of her. It crackled wildly and vividly as Tessa released an arrow made out of glass the moment she let go of Aria's hands, directly going towards the dragon. Aria finally let go of her thunder and it wrapped around the arrow as it made contact with Acnologia, who's eyes had been bearing into Aria's form the whole time.

The beast howled wildly in pain as the arrow filled with magical energy exploded against its chest. However, a second wave of attack had gone forth. Happy had gotten Natsu out of the way when Tessa had thrown her arrow and now both him, Gajeel, and Wendy were in the air with their exceeds.

Laxus let out his Raging Bolt towards Acnologia to push it back even more so and all three dragon slayers joined in with their own dragon roars.

Acnologia crashed into a mountain, completely destroying it with its body. They all thought that they had done it. The likeliness of it surviving after being attacked by six dragon slayers were slim to none.

But they were so wrong as it emerged back from the ground. The earth trembled, almost in unison with their own bodies as Acnologia snarled at them and flew to the sky. Gildarts knew the monster wasn't even attacking at full potential. It flew above them and they all saw it take a deep breath.

Gajeel cursed, "He's going to do his roar!"

Lucy shook with sobs, "This can't be happening! We are going to die!"

Juvia immediately went to Gray, "My love!" and latched on to his arm. For the first time ever, he didn't push her away but wrapped an arm around her. Gray turned to Freed, "Can't you create a barrier?!"

"I don't have time to make an incantation!"

Levy removed herself from Cana who had been holding her, "There's other forms we can use!"

Mira turned to the others, "Let's join hands! Everyone give your power to Levy and Freed!"

The exceeds dropped their partners with the others. Gajeel got a hold of Tessa and held her in a breaking, heart throbbing embrace. She broke in his arms as she started to cry.

"I'm making you my mate the moment we are back home," he whispered against her ear. The tears streamed down her face like rivers as she held onto him.

"I love you…" she whispered to him in return. He froze, but as he was going to reply, they were pulled to be brought into the circle.

One by one they all joined hands. Each trembling hand, covered in either sweat or blood, grasped onto one another tightly. They focused all of the magic they had left and transported it to Levy and Freed. They were all terrified, but they all knew this wasn't the end. It couldn't be.

Natsu roared as he held onto Lucy's hand tightly, "We are not going to let this end here!"

"We'll never give up!" She cried out.

Their bodies started to glow as they felt Acnologia letting out its final attack. Aria could only think about everything that the guild had done to her life and in Tessa's. They had finally found a home, a place where they belonged. There was no more hopping around from one place to the other. Home was with their guild and with each other.

She turned to Laxus as she spoke and gripped his hand and Tessa's as she stood in between them, "Let's go home…"

"TO FAIRY TAIL!"


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Lost Time

Seeing Tenrou Island being attacked fiercely by Acnologia broke Mavis' heart. That was the last thing she wanted to witness in her own grave. Her guild had done so much in order to protect it, to protect each other. Casting Fairy Sphere had been difficult, but the love all the members had for each other and the drive to maintain everyone safe was enough for the spell to work. They survived Acnologia's roar that was supposed to completely obliterate then.

However, they never made it back to Magnolia. The news of what happened in the island spread like a wild storm all over Fiore. The Magic Council had actually sent out various boats to search for them, but they came across nothing. Those that were still in the guild, were utterly heartbroken at the fate that their guildmates had to suffer.

The guild overall had to face the consequences of everyone disappearing. Since the strongest members were gone, Fairy Tail was brought down to be the weakest guild of Fiore. Once a respected guild was now frowned upon the others and mocked. Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus were the only ones that tried helping Fairy Tail as much as they could. But it was still hard for the guild. They were doing what they could and every year a search party was always sent out, in hopes of finding some sort of clue or the island. However, it was always a failure.

A dark guild named Twilight Ogre took the role of bullying Fairy Tail and its members, to the point that Fairy Tail had to pay them a commission every month, or there would be consequences. Macao became guild master and was left with not much of a choice but to agree.

Seven long years passed that Fairy Tail was broken and humiliated. But Hibiki from Blue Pegasus, finally found the lead they needed and forth was sent a search party back to where Tenrou Island was last seen.

* * *

He groaned as he started to regain consciousness. He could feel the pounding headache as it was making his ears ring and he could feel the bright sunlight through his closed eyelids. His senses started coming to him and he could hear birds chirping.

 _What the hell?_

His eyes opened, but quickly closed them. He tried again, this time slower and his red eyes finally focused. He laid there for a couple of seconds but then quickly sat up with a gasp, making his headache worse. Everything came to him all too quickly.

"What the fuck… Acnologia… he—"

"GAJEEL! GAJEEL!"

His eyes widened as he recognized the voice of his intended mate, "Tessa?"

And through the bushes, bruised and battered, she came out running at him. He fell backwards instantly as she knocked him down. Before he could say anything, she stopped him with a kiss. His eyes widened but then closed as he kissed her back. He could smell the fear through her, the anxiety. She thought she had lost him, just like how he had thought so as well. She finally parted and with tears in her eyes she held his face as she smiled down at him.

"We are alive!"

A snort was heard in the background, "You two need to get a room."

Gajeel snorted as the familiar voiced reached his ears, "Says the one that's holding on to Sparky over there."

Aria blushed as she snapped immediately, "I wouldn't if I had another choice! My leg is fucked up dammit."

Laxus chuckled, completely ignoring the small pang on his chest at the beginning of her sentence. She was easy to rile up with comments like that so he _knew_ he still had a shot. She was just too stubborn to see it. However, it was true. Her thigh wasn't fairing that well still and so he had an arm around her waist to support her.

Tessa finally removed herself from on top of Gajeel and helped him up, "Blue Pegasus found us. They brought some of our friends with them."

He blinked a couple of times, "Well I'll be damned. I thought we were done for. Who knew those bunch of morons were helpful for something."

"Mavis, the First Guild master is the one that helped us," Laxus said, "However… we were kind of frozen inside the spell, Fairy Sphere."

Gajeel looked at him confused, "What'da ya mean frozen? And I thought she was dead?"

"Her spirit did," Aria answered.

Tessa bit her lip, "It's been seven years since Acnologia attacked us."

* * *

Makarov couldn't have been more proud of his children. Their love and trust for one another is what was Fairy Sphere activated and they were able to survive the blast. But just knowing his children that were left behind for seven years suffered a lot, it tore his heart apart.

He smiled softly as he saw Wendy casting the Troia to the dragon slayers so the motion sickness would not mess with them on the trip back.

Blue Pegasus and some of Fairy Tail guild members that came immediately started treating those that were still injured and getting them caught up with everything.

Natsu was happy to hear that Romeo, the young boy that would always look up to him, was growing up into a well formed wizard, however ever since their disappearance, Romeo had stopped smiling.

Laxus saw Aria leaning against the railing of the ship, deep in thought as her eyes scanned the whole ocean. He placed a small blanket over her bare shoulders. She jumped slightly since she was distracted, but brought the blanket over closer.

"Thanks," she said softly with a smile.

He looked at her concerned, "Are you okay?"

"Just weirded out with the fact we just lost seven years of our life."

He snorted, "Ain't that something."

"Are you still going to leave?" she abruptly asked as she crossed her arms and turned to look at him.

He grinned as he leaned against the railing, his spiked hair softly moving with the wind.

"Nah. I think I'll stick around. Who else is going to bug you?"

She wanted to say there were plenty of idiots in the guild that would bug her, but she couldn't find herself ruining the moment.

She smiled softly as her gaze turned to the ocean, "I would be extremely bored without you."

* * *

"Hurry up ! Man, you guys are slow!" Natsu and Happy were at the front of the group, anxiously looking at the others that were behind them.

Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Guild isn't going anywhere kid."

Alzack nervously laughed, "Actually… the guild isn't in the middle of Magnolia anymore."

Makarov stopped in his tracks and looked at him, "What do you mean?"

Warren sighed with an upset look on his face, "Twilight Ogre took over it. We have the guild now out in the outskirts of the city."

Natsu's happiness faded from his eyes for a moment, but his smile returned.

"Let's go with our family."

/././././

Lucy's heart became heavy at the sight of the broken down building that was now their guild. The wood was chipped, the color was faded. The one beautiful flag was now torn in certain areas. It was also a lot smaller than the one they had. She noticed the way all the dragon slayers narrowed their eyes and she suddenly became scared.

"W-what is it?"

"There's some people that are in there that I've never smelt before."

Alzack's eyes widened, "Must be Twilight Ogre."

Gray cracked his knuckles, "Let's get them Natsu."

The slayers, followed by Gray and Erza, quickly made their way over to the guild. Sure enough, at the entrance was a group of men that were trash talking the guild members and threatening them. One of them raised a weapon to a young boy and Natsu wasted no time and he kicked the man. Not soon after, each one of them took down one of them.

The group of men gasped and groaned, eyes widening in fear to see some of the best known mages of Fairy Tail back from the dead. Some of the others took a hold of them and tossed them out of the guild like trash.

Natsu turned to their stunned guild members and grinned brightly, "Hey guys!"

Romeo couldn't believe his eyes, and for the first time in seven years with tears on his eyes, he smiled.

"H-hey Natsu! What took you so long!"

Immediately, a party was thrown with whatever barrels of alcohol were still left over. Food was quickly cooked and seven years of catching up was done. Erza couldn't still believe that Alzack and Bisca had settled down and have a six year old daughter. Gildarts kept telling everyone that Cana was his daughter, some of them not even believing it until Gajeel actually went up to both of them and sniffed them and confirmed it.

"I can't believe I never noticed."

Cana chugged her bottle as she answered tipsily, "Ever since Natsu joined the guild and I learned about his sense of smell, I started to apply perfume daily so he wouldn't know."

Tessa happily sat with Pantherlily on her lap as she drank her drink. Natsu and Gajeel were impressed with Romeo's increase of magic power and excited to know that he had been getting lessons from Totomaru from the ex Element 4. Seeing Gajeel smiling was making her heart flutter and continued to drink. Eventually, Natsu told the story of Grimoire Heart to everyone. Some of the Tenrou team jumped in with their own version of battles as well. A lot of them couldn't believe that they had defeated one of the toughest darkest guilds in the country, but then again, no enemy ever survived a pummeling from them.

Natsu continued on with his story until he got to the part of the battle with Hades and mentioned Laxus arrival that saved them all. Aria was sitting with the Thunder Legion and the Strauss siblings as Natsu said his story and she immediately noticed Macao having a nervous look on his face and slightly shifting on his feet. She crossed her arms and her eyes narrowed, but before she could even think of getting up, she felt a hand on her thigh and give it a squeeze. Her head immediately turned to Laxus, but he wasn't looking at her. He was quietly sipping his beer that Mira had set down in front of him. She ignored the warmth of his hand on her thigh, which he slowly removed. She sighed. However, the moment she saw Macao drinking his beer, she zapped him, making him drop the beer everywhere.

"What's up dad? Age is getting to you that you can't even lift a mug?" Romeo grinned as he said that. That immediately earned the older man various jokes thrown his way, making him stutter as he tried to explain what happened but no one was listening.

Laxus raised an eyebrow and finally turned his head to look at Aria, but the woman was just smiling innocently as she munched on a piece of sweet bread.

 _Innocent? There's nothing innocent about her,_ he dryly thought as he shook his head.

The rest of the day continued on with music and loud conversations, but in the mix of it, Natsu was trying to pick a fight with Gajeel.

"Come on man! I want to try my new technique on you!"

Gajeel growled as Tessa put a hand on his arm to calm him down, "What do I look like to you? A guinea pig?!"

"No," Natsu drawled, "More like a tin man."

Gajeel's eyes flashed, "What did you say you stupid candle?"

Natsu grinned, "Come on man! Or what?" an idea popped in his head that he was sure it was going to get the iron slayer to fight him, "You have to ask your soon to be mate for permission? She can't defend herself so you have to stay by her?"

Aria's eyes widened as she had been standing by the bar with Laxus and Cana when she heard that.

"Oh boy."

Cana looked at her curiously, "What is it?"

"Watch."

It wasn't Gajeel that retaliated or said something. One moment Tessa was trying to calm down Gajeel and now she was the one standing in front of the fire slayer, a deadly look in her eyes. Gajeel was smirking and instead of stopping her, he opted out to lean back on his chair and put his hands over his head.

"What are you trying to imply Natsu?" She asked a little too sweetly, "That I'm weak? Why? Because I'm a female slayer? I can perfectly defend myself and I don't need my mate to stand by me at all times."

Anyone that was near Natsu immediately took several steps back. Aria shook her head as Tessa snapped her fingers and a glass ball appeared, trapping Natsu inside.

His dark eyes widened, "Tessa! Let me out!"

She smiled brightly and with one impressive punch, she hit the ball, sending it rolling out of the guildhall with Natsu screaming in agony the entire time. Everyone could've sworn they saw his face turning into a sickening green color.

A chuckle was then heard from the entrance of the guild, "So the rumors are true! Everyone is back!"

Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly, "Jura!"

The tall bald man smiled at her, "I take it congratulations are in order then? You have a mate?"

The man walked further in as he smiled at everyone. She blushed furiously, "Intended mate…"

Aria choked on her drink as she was trying to hold in her laugh. Seeing Tessa get embarrassed was beyond comical to her. Tessa sent her a small glare immediately but her attention was returned to the other people that were behind Jura. It was Lyon and Sherry as well.

Lucy's eyes widened, "I can't believe Lamia Scale are here!"

Max grinned, "Them and Blue Pegasus are the ones that helped search for all of you all this time."

Various of the Tenrou Team went up to them, thanking them for their help during all seven years. Gray was still a little weird seeing an older Lyon, "You really helped?"

Lyon took his body language and smirked, "Now now, I'm here to celebrate with you and your friends. The last thing we want is a fight, specially because I now have seven years above you Gray."

Eventually, Tessa had dragged Aria to meet Lamia Scale officially. In Aria's head, Jura was practically a monster since she could feel his magic energy, Sherry reminded her of a combination of both Ever and Lucy, and Lyon was handsome, but apparently an idiot since he immediately had a crush on Juvia, who was clearly not interested.

Tables and chairs moved around to make space to the new guests and various conversations were then echoing all over the guild. Sherry was practically bragging that Lamia Scale was currently placed as the second strongest guild in all of Fiore.

This brought curiosity in Erza's eyes, "Who's number one?"

Some of the guild members groaned at the question and Sherry scoffed in disgust, "Sabertooth."

Aria had gone back to her seat by the bar and as she was going to sip her drink, her hand froze and she felt herself going cold at the mention of the guild. She couldn't bring herself to turn around. Tessa could see from her spot at the table with the others the way Aria's shoulders tensed at the mention of the guild.

She decided to ask the question that was plaguing her friend's mind, "Who's the guild master?"

Alzack answered, "Some guy named Jiemma. Ever since he became guild master, five new members joined and they became unstoppable."

A loud snap was heard from the bar. Aria had broken her mug by the force of her grip, her drink spilling all over the bar. Mira quickly got a rag and started to clean, but she was more concerned with the unsettling look the woman had. She placed a soft hand on hers, "Are you ok?"

Aria's jaw was clenched and nodded curtly, "Sorry for the mess."

"It's fine. I can get you anoth—"

"No. It's fine. I'm leaving anyways."

With that, she abruptly got up and immediately left the guild. Laxus started going after her, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to see Tessa, a look of concern gracing her soft features.

"Don't. I'll go."

And with that, she left as well. Gajeel didn't want to intrude, but he still worried, so he sent Panther Lily to check on them in case they needed something. The exceed quickly obliged.

Makarov couldn't bring himself to enjoy his drink anymore and he placed it down. He had been sitting on the bar, not too far away from her. Laxus noticed and went up to him, "Do you know anything old man?"

He raised his head to look at his grandson, and upon seeing the concern in his face he almost said it. However, it wasn't his place to say anything.

"I'm sure she will explain it to you."

Just then, they could hear the sound of thunder and not soon after, Natsu walked in rubbing his face.

Lucy shook her head, "What's with you pissing off the female slayers Natsu?"

Happy went up to him to check his face, "Next thing you know he's going to piss off Wendy!"

Carla looked at Natsu and then at Wendy, "I doubt it. She's too nice."

Wendy blushed furiously at that.

* * *

She reached the small creek that was not far from the guild and collapsed on her knees. She brought her hands to her face and started to cry.

Jiemma.

Her Uncle Jiemma became Sabertooth's guild master. _The bastard did accomplish what he wanted..._ She thought to herself as she shook.

Tessa easily found her and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her and started soothing her.

"Shh. It's okay."

"It's like I can't get away from my past. Out of all guilds, that one had to become the strongest? But then again I'm not surprised. He was always power hungry. He was such a bastard. Him and Marcea."

"Just because he's their new guild master it doesn't mean you'll ever see him. Breathe. I know it's hard."

"Are you ok Aria?"

Both girls turned around. Lily was looking at them concerned. He had a special place in his heart for Tessa, for bringing the best out of Gajeel. But Aria held a place in his heart too. The woman was hilarious and she had helped him with his fear and that was something he would forever be thankful for.

"I will be eventually," She replied back with a whisper. The exceed walked up to her and put a paw on her hand while Tessa held the other one. Aria stayed quiet for several moments until she composed herself. She sat there, staring at the water with the dreaded feeling of her uncle accomplishing what she didn't want him to.

"He's going to know about me. It's just a matter of time that our return catches the attention of every single guild."

"And if he does, he does!" Tessa quickly exclaimed, "If you're afraid he will get to you, he's not going to. He was never, _never_ able to help you activate your lacrima properly. He beat you to get your power out of you and he never succeeded. He doesn't know how strong you are. Besides, he would have to get through me and Laxus. You guys are friends now right? He's not going to let anything happen to you."

Lily was able to piece everything together and he nodded at her, "Me and Gajeel have your back."

Aria sighed, "I killed his wife. I don't think he's let that go."

"And what I said still stands." Tessa said firmly.

Aria turned to look at her, "I'm happy for you."

Tessa was beyond confused at the sudden change of topic, "Huh?"

"You and Gajeel. You guys are going to be mates. You know how cool is that? I only once remember you bringing that up when we were younger. Big wedding, big dress."

Tessa laughed, "I doubt any of those things are going to happen. Gajeel hates attention on him."

Aria snorted, "That's not what I heard from Mira. A few days before Fantasia, he put on a show for the entire guild."

Lily's eyes widened, "What?!"

Tessa groaned, "I heard about that!"

The three of them stayed with each other until the sun started to set. They went back to Fairy Hills and were surprised to see Levy and Wendy extremely upset. Lily had quickly flown to find Gajeel when him and the girls left the creek.

"What's wrong guys?" Tessa quickly asked.

Levy sighed heavily, "I just basically had to give all of my life savings to cover the cost of my room the whole seven years we were gone. Kinana didn't want to ask me for the money, but the guild has been doing horribly financially thanks to Twilight Ogre and the lack of jobs."

Wendy nodded alongside her, "I gave as much as I could to pay them back. Have to figure something out."

Carla patted her leg in sympathy, "Don't fret child. We will get a job tomorrow and get to work."

Both Aria and Tessa groaned. "Well," Tessa said, "Guess we will look for Kinana inside and figure something out with her."

Aria nodded slowly, her already crappy mood increasing. It didn't take them long to find the purple haired girl and Aria went straight to the point.

"Alright girl, how much do we owe you?"

The woman's eyes widened and she shook her head, "N-nothing."

"What you mean nothing?" Aria asked her confused.

Tessa looked at her suspiciously, "You stuttered. We should be owing you a lot of money right now."

The girl blushed furiously at the way they were looking at her, "It's been paid off. Both of your accounts."

Silence.

Silence.

And then…

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Both girls had run out of Fairy Hills and quickly took off in different directions with murderous auras on one another. They were fuming and they were beyond pissed.

Aria knew which house was Laxus'. She was grateful she had accepted his offer when they had gotten back to Edolas. Now she knew where to find him. The moment she finally got to it, she hopped over the gate and went up to the front door, and instead of knocking the door like a normal person, she kicked it open.

"LAXUS FUCKING DREYAR WHERE THE FU-Oh, hey guys." She stopped her rant as she saw Evergreen, Freed, and Bickslow in the living room. Ever was trying to hold in her laughter by placing her fan in front of her face. Freed was coughing awkwardly and Bickslow was outright laughing.

"She broke the fucking door," Bickslow said between gasps as he laughed.

She looked down at the broken door and then back at them, "Sorry about that. Where the fuck is he? I can smell him."

"I'm here. Take a goddam breather before you break anything else in the house."

She turned her head to see him coming down the stairs. He had an amused look on his face with his hands on his pockets. She was beyond mad and he had a feeling she had come from Fairy Hills.

She stomped over to him, "Get your money back from Kinana. You don't have to pay for my shit. I'm more than capable to get a job and pay my own debt! Who do you think you are? You pompous asshole! You fuc-"

His eyes flashed, "Would you at least give me the chance to fucking explain before you bite my head off?!"

She was about to punch him when Freed intervene, "Why don't we calm down? Laxus has a perfect explanation for having to pay your debt Aria."

Her blazing amber eyes turned to Freed, who almost flinched, "What?"

"We want you part of the Thunder Legion."

She heard Evergreen from behind her. Aria's eyes widened and slowly turned around, "What?"

* * *

Tessa wasn't fairing any better, taking her a bit longer to finally find Gajeel's house since he had only shown it to her once. She was about to bang on his door when she noticed that it was slightly opened, but the whole house was dark.

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to sniff out Gajeel but she couldn't find his scent. All she could sniff was his stuff and that's it. Old scent.

She materialized a glass dagger on her hand and opened the door slowly, "Gajeel? You there?"

Silence.

Her heart was beating fast, but she decided to close the door. If a burglar was nearby, she would hear them coming inside again. She removed her shoes and softly placed them on the ground, careful to not make a sound. She was grateful for her keen eyesight, but she was growing more suspicious when she didn't see anyone on the living room or the kitchen since the two were connected. She heard something from the second floor and she made her way up.

There were three rooms in the house, and she only knew that thanks to Lily. She opened the door to the first room she came to but it was empty. She went to open the door to the second, glass dagger still ready to strike, when she suddenly heard something from the third and final room.

Gajeel's room.

The moment she set foot in, she saw a shadow coming at her. Through the darkness, they both struggled in a small scruffling until she was suddenly pinned to the bed. She was ready to scream when she finally saw the person's eyes.

Or more specifically, red eyes.

"Gajeel! I could've fucking hurt you!"

He grinned crookedly at her, "You couldn't sniff me?"

She was panting hard from the adrenaline, "No! How did you do that?"

His grin widened, "A little trick Levy showed me."

She shook her head, but then small bells on the back of her head reminded her why she was there.

"Why did you pay my debt? And how do you even have that much money?"

He still had her pinned down, "That was my savings from when I was with Phantom Lord. Don't worry, still have some left."

"Why did you do that?"

He didn't say anything and he kissed her. She held back a moan. She knew he was trying to distract her so to get him off her, she bit him.

"Fuck woman!" he exclaimed as he licked his bruised lip.

"Why did you do that?" she asked again.

He put his forehead to hers, "Well, I did ask you to be my mate. That automatically makes us as one. Your problems are my problems. Besides, you don't need that room anymore."

Her heart was beating fast and her green eyes widened, "Why?" she asked softly.

He pulled back slightly as he stared at her face, which was partially illuminated thanks to the moonlight coming through his window.

His voice was deeper as his red eyes darkened in color, "Because after tonight, you'll be living with me, as my official mate. Just like I promised you back at Tenrou."

He leaned in to kiss her, but stopped right on her lips, "And I love you too."

This time that he kissed her, more deeply and passionately than the last, she wrapped her legs around his waist and didn't hold back her moan anymore.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Determined

An entire week passed after Tessa and Gajeel mated. The couple had not shown their faces that entire week at the guild. Some were concerned after it had been two days since the couple hadn't arrived, but then Levy went on a long explanations on how new mated dragons would seek isolation to complete their mating ritual. There was no special ceremony or such. The isolation was necessary in order to complete the bond. Levy explained to everyone that the mating was rather exhausting for the female, since she would be gaining some of the magical power from her male. Everyone went into different theories on what Tessa could be capable of now, but nothing was set in stone until the mage would show up. By the fourth day, the Master was becoming concerned although he had heard what Levy had said and was thinking of sending someone to check on them.

Panther Lily had quickly shut down the idea. When Carla had asked him why, the black cat started shaking his head furiously, a deep blush on his face. Panther Lily had made the mistake of going to the house the second day and quickly regretted it. Aria had offered for him to stay with her in her new room at the Thunder Legion house and the black cat was deeply grateful about that.

That was something Aria was still getting used to. Being part of the Thunder Legion.

She had wanted to say no and to tell Laxus to fuck off and to get his money back from Kinana for paying her debt of seven years. However, the other three members had persuaded her, specially Evergreen. She couldn't say no to the woman. As much as she wanted to. She could see that Ever desperately wanted another woman in the team, being tired of being the one on everyone's asses. Freed had gone into a long explanation on how her power would fit in with their team and Bickslow just wanted her because he thought she was cool. Aria knew Laxus had played dirty, knowing well she would've refused to join if he had asked him by himself while she stayed at Fairy Hills. In her long list of insults that she had prepared for the lightning mage, sneaky bastard was one of them. So she had joined and they went on a mission the following day.

It had been successful. There was no destruction whatsoever or anything. With her speed and cat like movements, they had been able to easily take down a group of bandits. The reward wasn't as much as they would've liked, but they were barely getting back on business again so they knew they had to be patient.

The only thing that the team had to put up with was the constant bickering from Laxus and her. They didn't know what to make of it. One moment they're being super understanding and respectful of one another. The next, they're throwing insults left and right. Freed had known Laxus for years and for the first time, he saw him losing his temper in various occasions during their entire mission towards her. It was entertaining to say the least.

* * *

He groaned softly and as he shifted slightly on the bed, he felt a warm body cuddled against his body and he grinned sleepily. He moved his arm and wrapped it around her naked waist and pulled her closer, burying his face on her head. He took in her scent, mixed in with his but a whole lot differently now. Flashes of the previous week flew in through his head, and for the first time in his life, he felt whole.

And it was all thanks to her.

However, there was a dark voice in the back of his head that was telling him that he had ruined her. That he had ruined her chances of meeting someone proper, someone that she deserved. She was the light in his life. A pure light and that voice kept telling him he had tainted her. He started to growl softly, making her to subconsciously press her body against his more so than what it already was. That made him stop growling. He took a deep breath and started to think about things, to not let his own insecurities get in the way of what had happened.

She had chosen him. She had given her soul to him to mix it into one with his. If she wasn't connected with him, the mating wouldn't have gone through. Dragons were notorious for their mating. They would pick one mate and share the same life span of one another. If one of them were to die, the other would eventually die literally by a broken heart. That's why dragons would take years to court their intended, however, when connections were too strong and the courting didn't go as long as it should have, the strength of the bond tended to be immediate.

Her body had taken well his magic circulating through her body. She had been beyond exhausted the moment the mating had been completed. But she could feel the new strength within her and he could feel a difference as well.

She was everything to him.

She groaned in her sleep as she finally woke up and she sleepily smiled as she saw him staring at her. She wrapped her arm around his chest and kissed his chest, "Good morning…"

He kissed her forehead, "Morning. How'd you sleep?"

Her green eyes sparkled as she looked at him, "Amazing. You? What's wrong?"

He ran a hand through his face as he forgot about that particular detail on the mating. Their emotions would be shared with the new link they now had, meaning she most like awoke by him getting irritated by his stupid thoughts.

He sighed, knowing damn well he couldn't lie to her, "Part of me feels like I stopped you from finding a man that did deserve you."

She rolled her eyes and moved her body so she was now straddling his body. His eyes automatically went to the slight bounce of her breasts with her movements. She snapped her fingers in front of his face and then pointed at her face.

"Hey! Eyes up here for a moment!" Once he was looking at her, she tenderly grabbed his face with both hands.

"I love you. Can you get that through your thick metal brain of yours? I chose this. I chose you. I'm well familiar with the mating ritual and such. You're not the only one that grew up with a dragon. You are everything I need so get that stupid voice out of your head before I do it for you. This past week, it has been amazing and I am looking forward with spending forever with you. Now, why don't we shower so we can head back to the guild? I found a note under our door yesterday from Aria. Makarov is calling a meeting."

He smirked at her, the all familiar fang sticking out, as he suddenly grabbed her by the hips and switched their positions. He kissed her neck and then her shoulder, where the two puncture wounds from the marking lay. They were there for the world to see, that she was _his_.

"We have an hour."

And at any other moment, she would've argued with that, but she knew he needed a way of reassurance and that's exactly what she was going to do.

"You're horrible."

He laughed wholeheartedly and her heart fluttered at the sound.

She gave in, "Just one round! Then we have to shower and go to that meeting."

He nipped at her lip, "So you say."

They had another one in the shower and another one in the living room before they left. She really had a hard time saying no to him.

* * *

A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. She had been awake for hours. She had tossed and turned on her new bed in her new bedroom. It had been a week since she joined them and she was still getting used to her new surroundings. She had spoken to Lily about it, since the cat had sensed her not getting enough sleep. He had told her that it would take some time to get used to it and that her body should get accustomed to everything soon enough. She found comfort in the cat, so she had also voiced her concerns to him about Sabertooth in more detail than the day at the creek. He told her, or more like reassured her, that there was no way for her to see the man that put her through years of abuse any time soon. That was somewhat comforting.

She was alone in her room since Lily had left a lot earlier. The knock became more persistent and she sighed. She knew who it was from the other side of the door. Part of her wanted to pretend that she was asleep and ignore it, but she knew damn well he wouldn't fall for that. She sighed again.

"Come in."

The door was opened slowly and Laxus came in, a glass of juice for her in hand. She found herself inwardly swallowing as he was only wearing pajama pants and shirtless. Part of her wanted to slam the door shut and throw him on the bed. She took in the contour of his muscles and his large tattoo.

He was not making things easier for her to forget about her feelings for him.

"Thought I would bring you this," He said as he handed her the glass as she sat up, "Ever is already cooking breakfast downstairs."

She welcomed the coolness of the juice going down her throat. Hopefully it would diminish the heat that was settling inside of her, "Does she always cook?"

He snorted, "Not really. Usually it's Freed. Or myself."

"Bickslow doesn't cook?"

"Last time he did we had to repair the entire kitchen."

He could see the amusement in her eyes, "Why am I not surprised to hear that?"

He chuckled, "Ever wants to celebrate you surviving your first week with the team. I don't think she's ever been this excited before."

"Well she's been stuck with you three for so long. I honestly don't blame her. I would've gone inside. I _should've_ already been insane since I spent a month with you."

He rolled his eyes, "You were insane way before that, so don't blame it on me."

He looked at her face and he noticed the dark circles under her eyes, "You haven't been sleeping well?"

He had a feeling he already knew why she didn't. It had to do with Sabertooth, but he couldn't find the courage to ask her outright. He wanted her to say something on her own.

"Still trying to get used to this whole team thing," She paused for a second as she finished her juice, "Nightmares as well."

Laxus couldn't hide the concerned look that spread on his face. He hesitantly sat on her bed and looked at her, "Want to talk about it?"

She didn't look at him as she said, "The whole thing about Sabertooth set them off…"

"You ran out of the guild. The old man wouldn't tell me anything."

She sighed heavily as she got up. She crossed the room over to her small dresser where her clothes were. His eyes immediately went to her legs as she was wearing an oversized t shirt as pajamas and her legs were bare. He could feel his inner dragon on the back of his head demanding to take her but he pushed it aside. She pulled out her clothes for the day and as she closed the drawer, she sighed again.

"Their guild master is Jiemma, my uncle."

Laxus' eyes widened in surprise and slight horror at the sound of that. Only a few times on their time training did she speak about she went through with her aunt and uncle. All the things they did to her to bring some sort of power from her. The worst was forcing the lacrima in her chest.

He found himself standing and walking towards her. He carefully placed a hand on her shoulder, "What are you afraid of?"

There was a moment of silence until she barely spoke above a whisper, "Facing my past."

She turned around and looked up at him. Just then, he reminded her of a child. Her eyes were big with concern and worry and he desperately wanted to wipe those emotions away from her face, from her eyes. It didn't suit her.

Just as he raised his hand to place it on her cheek, they heard a crash from downstairs.

" _Bickslow! How many times do I have to tell you that your babies are prohibited in the kitchen?!"_

" _Come on Ever! They wanted to help too!"_

" _Help Freed with the cleaning and leave me alone!"_

The hand he was going to place on her, he smacked it on his forehead and mumbled under his breath. She laughed, "Is it always like this?"

He rolled his eyes as he took a step back as she gathered her clothes on her arms, "Laundry day is worse. Bickslow likes stirring shit with Ever. When he gets her clothes he likes pointing out her underwear."

Her eyes widened, "He's not allowed to come in my room then. He does my laundry I'm electrocuting him. Anyways, I'll see you downstairs? I'm going to shower really quick. That way we can eat and head out to the guild for the meeting."

He snorted as he started to walk out. As he descended the stairs all he could think was that he _would_ personally rip Bickslow a new one if he did that to her.

"BICKSLOW YOU JUST BURNED THE PANCAKES!"

* * *

After an eventful breakfast, the team and their new member made their way across town towards the guild. Various townsfolk kept giving them unbelievable looks as they strode into town. It was still hard for them to believe that the strongest of Fairy Tail were back in Magnolia. It was something to get used to, but there was that small glimmer of hope for them to regain the status they once held seven years ago. Makarov, Mira, and Erza had taken cared of the whole situation with Twilight Ogre, and now Fairy Tail was free from debt which was another talk throughout the town as well.

Everyone that was on Tenrou Island was still having a hard time accepting what had happened the past seven years. Lucy had lost her father during the time they were trapped and she had entered a small stage of depression, but thanks to Natsu and the rest of her team, she was able to smile brightly again.

Today, Makarov had called a guild meeting and everyone had to be present. No one knew what was going on as everyone gathered in front of the bar. Aria had her arms crossed and Laxus lazily had an elbow on her shoulder and leaning against her as they waited for his grandfather to speak up. The doors were suddenly opened, and Tessa hurried in with a not too happy Gajeel trailing behind her. Lily grinned the moment he saw them and the rest of the guild erupted in various catcalls and whistles, making the brunette blush furiously and Gajeel growl at them as he grabbed her by the waist. She made her way over to Aria who had a knowing look on her face.

"Finally decided to join us peasants?" She said in a mocking voice. However, her golden eyes widened as Tessa's scent hit her.

"Holy shit- you have been at it like rabbits!"

Laxus raised an eyebrow at the couple and nodded his head, "Not bad metal head."

Gajeel smirked but didn't say anything.

Tessa blushed again but rolled her eyes at the two of them, "Where's Lucy and the rest of them?"

Aria shrugged her shoulders, "Erza is over there, but about the others, according to Levy, they went to see the old witch out in the forest."

Makarov cleared his throat, getting the attention of all of the members present as he stepped on the stage.

"After further consideration, I have finally decided to retire."

This quickly brought on various questions from everyone. Aria looked up at Laxus, "Did you know this?"

He shook his head, "Nope."

He motioned his hands for everyone to quiet down, "It has been wonderful serving as the master of this guild, but my time has come. And without further ado," Makarov continued, "I present you your new guild master, Gildarts Clive!"

And he pointed to the direction where Mira was standing, with no Gildarts.

The wizard had left a note with the explanation on why he couldn't become guild master. In his letter, he gave Laxus the position of S-Class again and assigned Makarov as the sixth Fairy Tail master, angering the short old man. At the end of the letter, he asked for the guild to become number one again, making that their job and not his and that he knew they would be capable of doing so. He had left a letter to Cana with a calling card, which the young woman had quickly ripped apart. The guild had exploded with laughter and congratulations were given to Laxus for having his position back, although he was still unsure what to think of it.

Warren laughed, "Leave it to Gildars telling us to make ourselves the best in Fiore."

Max sighed, "He always talks way too big and not realize how a request like that could almost be impossible."

Erza shook her head, "Not true. Upward advancement is an excellent goal."

"Seven years ago. But things are different now," Warren responded.

"Sabertooth is number one, and then there's the fact that Lamia and Pegasus are extremely good too. We can't compare to them now," Alzack added with a sad smile.

"We have seven years to catch up power wise, but we can do it," Tessa said as she sat on one of the tables with Gajeel staying at the bar with Panther Lily.

Erza nodded at her, "Indeed. It'll take some time but we have never been known to give up."

Aria's eyebrow rose the moment she saw young Romeo getting on a table.

"Well, I waited seven years and I don't wanna take seven years this time!"

Macao yelled at him, "Romeo!"

"Enough Dad!" The kid turned to the others, "There's only one quick way to get us to be number one and I know what it is!"

This quickly brought multiple screams of refusal and various curious questions. Laxus walked up to Romeo, both hands in his pockets and looked at him, "What do you mean?"

He ignored the way Macao was refusing in the background.

Romeo looked up at him, "There is this thing called—"

"I refuse to allow it! It doesn't matter that I'm not the guild master, but as a member!"

In that moment, Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Gray, and Happy were finally back.

"It was beyond embarrassing last time Romeo," Bisca tried to reason with him, but the kid wasn't having it.

"We have been humiliated enough!" He finally cried out, small tears visible on the corner of his eyes, "We have the Tenrou Team back! We have a chance to win this!"

Aria saw Macao opening his mouth again but she raised a hand at him to stop, "What are you talking about?"

Romeo took a deep breath, "While all of you were missing, Fiore started a festival to determine the number one guild of all of the country!"

"That sounds fun!" Natsu cried out, wanting to know more about the festival.

"It's a huge magic competition called The Grand Magic Games!"

Realization set in on the Tenrou group.

"If we win this… we could become number one again," Erza said, the familiar competitive glint appearing in her eye.

Gray smirked, "Alright, I like the sound of this!"

"Yeah, that doesn't sound bad at all," Lucy said.

Happy flew up to Natsu, "This sounds awesome!"

"It does sound great," Makarov interrupted, "But it doesn't change the fact that everyone has grown in power the past seven years except the whole Tenrou group. I do doubt we will win with all of the mages current state."

Romeo smirked, "The guild that wins gets thirty million jewels!"

"WE WILL ENTER!"

Laxus rolled his eyes at his grandfather's attitude towards the money, _Old man never changes_ he thought.

"It's not just a fighting competition," Jet said loudly, "It's various events that are random that you won't know about until the day of the event. We've come dead last every single time it's embarrassing. We won't have the support of the audience."

Erza shook her head, "We don't need the support of the audience. We will gain it. All we need is for all of us to work together to win."

"I agree with Erza," Mira said happily, "We can totally do it!"

"Now that's a real man's attitude!" Elfman cried out, earning him a smack from Evergreen's fan, "Can't you just not say 'man' for once?!"

"When are the games?" Natsu excitedly asked Romeo.

"Three months!"

Laxus smirked and looked down at Aria. Entering the games it would mean she would have to face Sabertooth and more specifically, her uncle. He would understand if she rather just watch from the sidelines. She felt his eyes on her and she turned to look at him, "We should get to work. We only have three months."

His eyes widened, "So you will enter?"

"If Makarov picks me to be part of the team that will participate, I won't say no. It was going to be a matter of time for me to see him anyways, might as well do so as I kick his guild's ass."

* * *

That night at the guild, Team Natsu, Juvia, The Thunder Legion, and Shadow Gear sat together in hopes of figuring out where they would go to train. However, Erza had found a beautiful beach spot for them to go train and she was inviting the rest of them to do so.

Aria flipped through the magazine that Lucy had brought of the spot Erza was talking about, "Why does this feel more like a vacation than training grounds?"

Erza smirked, "It is always good to have a moment of relaxation after vigorous training."

Laxus snatched the magazine from Aria, earning him a glare from her, and looked at Erza, "You should be more focused on what you're going to train, not the location."

"Oh, really?" Gray asked, "Where are you guys going to go?"

Laxus smirked, "Somewhere."

Aria turned to Tessa, "Where the hell is Gajeel?"

Tessa was examining the tips of her curls as she casually replied, "He already left with Lily."

"WE NEED TO GET GOING! I HAVE TO GET STRONGER THAN THAT METAL FACE!"

Erza punched Natsu on the back of the head, "Calm down."

Lucy's eyes widened, "And he left you? Didn't you guys just become mates?"

Carla sipped on her tea, "That is rather unusual."

Bickslow started to giggle, "He's already tired of her!"

 _Tired! Tired!_ His babies repeated excitedly.

Tessa glared at him and threw a glass dagger, which he was barely able to move his head to not get hit, "Don't _you_ have something to give to Cana before she leaves with Mira? And Gajeel said I would be a distraction if I came along. Besides, I should be training with my team."

Bickslow's eyes widened in realization and Aria shook her head, "It's on the table in my room."

He immediately left.

Laxus got up, "We should get going. We are leaving tomorrow morning."

Tessa looked at Laxus and then at Aria, "Wait, you're going with them?"

Ever smiled, "You've been gone for a week. She's part of the Thunder Legion now."

Tessa's eyes widened since she was the only one that didn't know, "Say what?!"

Aria laughed nervously as she scratched the back of her head, "Well you've been busy. Besides, Ever insisted. Something about too much testosterone in the goddam team."

Erza nodded understanding, "I'm glad you have another female on the team Evergreen. It's worried me for a while that you're on a team with three other males."

Laxus rolled his eyes, "Only one that's a pain in the ass is Bickslow."

Aria rose her eyebrow at him, "The _only_ one?"

He glared at her, "Let's go."

Aria gave him a look, "It's not even that late!"

That was immediately followed by a yawn. Wendy couldn't help it and yawned as well as she leaned against Tessa.

He rolled his eyes. _Not tired my ass,_ he thought as he abruptly picked her up and threw her over his shoulders like a sack of potatos.

"GODDAMIT SPARKY PUT ME DOWN!"

Tessa started to laugh, "How do you guys deal with them two?"

Freed chuckled as Laxus was nearing the exit, "Actually, it's them two that have to deal with our crazy morning routine."

Evergreen fanned herself, "At least there's another chick in the group. It was becoming too much being the only girl."

And once the Thunder Legion left, Tessa turned to Lucy.

"How much you want to bet those two will hook up during their three month training?"

Juvia blushed, "Juvia thinks they will."

Levy nodded, "I think so too."

Lucy thoughtfully looked at the guild doors as they closed, Aria still cussing out Laxus in the background, "That's a suckers bet. They will."

Gray snorted, "I don't think so. She's too stubborn."

Erza's eye started to have a twinkle, "I think they will."

Tessa smirked and looked at Lucy again, "You think I can crash at your place?"

"Wendy, Erza, Juvia, and Levy were already going to! So yeah, come along. Besides," Lucy said with a wicked grin on her face, "I want to know what Bickslow is supposed to give to Cana."

Tessa laughed, "Deal!"

And so everyone got ready for three months of training. It was important for all of them to be at their strongest. Their guild, their family had put up with seven years of humiliation and now it was up to them to regain the reputation that Fairy Tail once held. It wasn't going to be easy at all, but they were determined and that's all they needed.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Training

Three long months went by. Those three months were filled with a lot of blood, sweat, and sore muscles. Laxus had made them travel far, probably twice the distance that Mira had taken off with her group, into a small town where they would be renting out rooms at an inn, but the rest of their training would be outdoors.

The first morning at their location, it was the building of stamina. The town had a radius of thirty miles, and he wanted all of them to run around it. There was a moment that Aria had been running next to Bickslow and he told her what happened the night before they left with Cana. The mage had been thankfully sober so he was able to talk to her and not worry about if she would remember or not. He told Aria he had stuttered at first but finally had the courage of giving her the purse. At first he thought she hated it because she hadn't said anything.

It wasn't until she jumped on him and kissed him that he finally got his answer. They decided to try out a relationship more serious once they were both back from their training. This made Aria extremely happy for her friend.

The run had been exhausting, specially for Evergreen, but by the time they were all finished, Laxus had gone into a surprise attack once they reached the meeting point.

They were sweaty and exhausted, but they all jumped in to the brawl. With various curse words from Aria.

That was the first time she really saw them in action, of what the Thunder Legion was about. Back in Fantasia, which felt like forever ago, Bickslow had been holding back. The man that was fighting her to get her out of the dirt ring that Laxus had created, was not having any mercy. It was wild, it was a rush, but she had been faster and was able to knock him out of the ring with her Thunder Iron Fist. Evergreen was trying her hardest to knock out Freed, but both of them had been sent off on a blast by Laxus himself, leaving him and Aria the only ones in the circle.

Ever winced and she looked at Freed, "You should probably put up some runes…"

He gave her a look, "I don't think it'll be necessary."

Bickslow barked a laugh, "Do you see the look on Laxus' face? Put them up man, if not we're going to get dragged into this again and I'm exhausted."

Freed turned to look at Laxus and Aria, when the slight shift of the wind made his eyes widened.

"I think maybe you're right."

Freed quickly put up the runes, and the moment they were up, Laxus and Aria charged at each other.

The earth beneath them shook like an earthquake, "Holy shit!" Bickslow yelled out as he fell on his ass.

Laxus had blocked her kick and retaliated with a punch of his own to her gut. She grunted, but quickly ducked and kicked him underneath, but he had been quick enough to jump backwards out of her way. She panted, the exhaustion of running for hours slowly creeping on her, but she didn't give in. Closing her fist, her blue electricity crashed down on her, the sound of her thunder echoing in the forest and charged forward again. This time, Laxus brought out his own magic to block her kicks and punches. A few times his eye twitched as he could feel the strength behind her punches.

"Is that all you got?" he mocked as he dodged, "I thought you would take this opportunity to kick my ass for all the times I've annoyed you. Or did that little run has you exhausted already? Pathetic! I made you run 50 miles last time and—"

He didn't finish as she had successfully landed a punch on his cheek, sending him crashing unexpectedly to the ground. The three on the side lines could only gawk at her. She was shaking in annoyance and fury. The moment that Laxus got up, she attacked again.

She started to using her size to her advantage. She knew in battle she could almost best him in speed. However, he was a brilliant fighter and hard to land a punch on when he actually got into a true fighting form. She just needed to be faster. They kept clashing on one another, him not holding back whatsoever with his kicks or punches. She could already feel a rib starting to bruise and she knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer.

She gathered all of her magic and roared, " _THUNDER DRAGON ROAR!_ "

He wasn't expecting her to use it so fast and to put so much magic into it. He had no other options but to raise his arms as a defense and to try to stay in the circle since Freed's runes only were preventing from their magic to spill out, but not their physical bodies.

When the smoke cleared, she was panting heavily. She had felt her attack pushing him back, and if she had enough strength left, she probably would have pushed him out of the circle. Laxus sprinted at her and punched her, sending her flying out and crashing into a tree.

That was just the beginning of their training.

Their training was divided into the following schedule:

Mondays—30 mile run, free for all brawl.

Tuesdays—meditation, individual training.

Wednesdays— Evergreen Vs. Bickslow, Freed Vs. Aria. (Laxus Day Off)

Thursdays—Evergreen Vs. Aria, Laxus Vs. Freed (Bickslow Day Off)

Fridays— Bickslow Vs. Aria, Laxus Vs. Evergreen (Freed Day Off)

Saturdays—Aria Vs. Laxus, Freed Vs. Bickslow (Evergreen Day Off)

Sundays— Laxus Vs. Bickslow, Freed Vs. Evergreen (Aria Day Off)

Eventually, Laxus would mix the fighting schedule so it wouldn't become so repetitive. In occasions, he had added his own lightning on the individual battles that the two fighting had to dodge them as well, to work on their agility. Aria didn't have a problem with it, greeting the lighting as practice to become faster. Meditation was the biggest thing that Aria would look forward to on Tuesdays and during her days off, which majority of the time were on Sundays. There was something about her being on her own and reaching certain levels of her own power that were a drive to her.

Days became weeks, and weeks became months of keeping up with their schedule and showing a dramatic increase of power. She _had_ become faster. She _had_ become stronger. Just the mere thought of Jiemma seeing her from the stands was enough drive to push her through the training.

Laxus gave everyone their last day off and for them to go to the town's small summer festival before their departure the following day. In a way to celebrate the completion of long three months of training.

Evergreen had been beyond excited and had quickly dragged Aria to go shopping, which the young woman had dreaded. However, it gave her an opportunity to bond with the brunette even more. Evergreen without the guys, she was extremely carefree and super sweet. When Aria had voiced that, Evergreen told her that after being on a team filled with guys, she needed to toughen up for them to take her seriously, which Aria understood completely.

Evergreen's presence just made her miss Tessa. A week after the training had started, she had called in on the lacrima, just to find out by Jet and Droy that Tessa and the others had been taken to the Celestial Spirit World because it was in trouble and they had yet to come back. On her days off, she had called in, but the group wasn't back yet. She only hoped that they were okay and that they were getting the necessary training for the competition. She had called Gajeel in when Jet and Droy mentioned he had thankfully not called Tessa in since he had been too focused on his training. He had been beyond furious, knowing his mate was basically in another parallel universe. Aria let him rant and on the first moment she could speak, she told him she was strong enough to deal with anything. Hence why she was his mate.

Mentioning that to him made his ego go up and his inner dragon calm down.

Evergreen had found her a floral dress with various flowers in different blues and violets to wear for the festival. It was short, just barely above the knee, and with thin straps. She had done her hair and makeup, that even Aria felt truly beautiful once Evergreen was done with her. The woman was wearing a light green dress with black and red koi fish around it, like if they were swimming in the fabric. Her dress was long, but it had a slit on the side and she had wrapped her long brown hair up in a bun, while Aria's was down in its usual manner, but a lot more tamed.

The guys were down at the bar when the girls finally found them, and Laxus' breath was quickly taken away the moment his eyes laid on hers and on what she was wearing. She smiled shyly at him and he had grinned at her. He had hoped that during their three months of training that he could've made a move with her, but it never happened. There were a few occasions that maybe, but those were shut down quickly by her. Even the team had tried but nope. It was eating him on the inside.

She would keep her distance out of training just enough and she tried her hardest to not be completely alone with him. He was really starting to believe that maybe she really had given up on anything happening between them, but he wasn't giving up just yet. He thought of the possibility that maybe she only wanted to focus on the games if she was picked and he could deal with that. So he had seriously convinced himself that he would bring it up after the games were over. So for the meantime during their months together, he decided to focus on helping her. On Tuesdays, they would some times meditate together since their magic was almost the same and would help each other. During their fights, he would push her beyond limits. He wasn't holding back because she was now part of his team. If anything, that was pushing him, and her, to fight even harder. She wanted to prove to him that she was no longer that wild girl that had no clue what to do with her magic. She was wild and terrifying now, but with control that he knew would leave spectators with their mouths wide in shock.

Sorcerer Weekly reporters had snuck in some pictures of them the times they were in town after training, and few pictures of either Laxus carrying Aria because he had knocked her out or of just them two walking together. Sorcerer Weekly was buzzing with questions on who she was.

However, on their last night as they enjoyed the festival, they forgot about everything. They bonded as a team, as a family, and had the greatest time of their lives. They were unsure of what was to come during the games, but they knew they were ready. During the festival, the music was loud and vivid, that after just a few drinks, Laxus had dragged Aria to the dance floor ignoring her protests. She was embarrassed, but she gave in eventually to the music as a form of an escape. She wasn't sure what was to come ahead. Might as well enjoy one night with him. He was beyond relaxed, smiling at her as he twirled her around.

Freed was watching from the bar with the other two, a content smile on his face.

"I don't think I have ever seen him smile so brightly," He commented as Aria actually laughed as Laxus dipped her.

Evergreen sighed contently, "He's so in love. Do you think he knows?"

Bickslow chuckled as he took a huge gulp of his beer, "He's probably in denial. The thing it's _her_. I really thought they were going to hook up these three months."

Evergreen sighed, "So did I. Maybe something will happen after the games are over."

Bickslow nodded his head, "Probably. I have a feeling those two will be picked by the Master."

Freed smiled softly, "Agreed. Although we have trained hard these past three months, our magic increase cannot compare to theirs. Thunder and lightning. A force to reckon with. I do not think that Aria knows that she reached her second origin. She proved it yesterday as she tied with Laxus. The magic energy coming from her was unbelievable. Mavis help those that end up facing them during the games."

* * *

Because of how far their training grounds had been, they had reached the guild later than Team Natsu and a Fairy Tail team to represent them at the games had been created. Jet and Droy had been at the guild when they had arrived, and the news they had for Aria, had left her in almost near tears.

She was laughing hysterically, "You mean to tell me they were at a party for a day, which in Earthland is three months? Oh my God I can't believe it!"

During her laughter, Mira and Gajeel came in. From what it looked like, Gajeel had just gotten there as well, meaning that he wasn't part of the team Makarov had created.

The guild master looked at everyone and spoke up, "I would like to talk to Mira, Aria, Gajeel, Juvia, and Laxus in my office."

The five of them quietly went, but the moment they got into the office, their eyes widened.

"What the hell is Mystogan doing here?" Gajeel asked. Panther Lily's eyes widened, _Prince?_

Mystogan removed the cloth around his face and the hat, "Not Mystogan, but Jellal."

Aria's eyes widened. She had heard of him. Everything he had done, the good and the bad. She couldn't deny that he was incredibly handsome and his voice was slightly different than the real Mystogan.

"I have talked to Makarov and I have asked him to let me participate in the games."

Mira was confused, "But the master picked the team just the other day. Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Tessa. Wendy is their backup."

Makarov grinned mischievously and Laxus looked at him suspiciously, "What are you planning old man?"

"Well, it just happens that this year, each guild can enter two teams," He grin grew, "I want you, Mira, Gajeel, Aria, and Mystogan to create Team B, with Juvia as the back up."

Gajeel grunted and crossed his arms, "What makes you think I want to be part of this crap?"

Lily gave him a look, "So all this time you trained for nothing?"

"I don't mind entering," Laxus said carefully, "But I don't know about being called Team 'B.'"

Aria rolled her eyes, the typical Dreyar pride showing forward.

She looked at Makarov as she spoke, "Does Team A know there can be a second team?"

"They have no clue. How bout this. The winning Team for Fairy Tail can make the other team do whatever they want."

Aria's eyes widened alongside Gajeel, Juvia, Laxus, and Mira. Jellal blinked, slightly wondering what they could be thinking for them to get such a glint in their eyes.

"Fine, we'll do it." Laxus said with a smirk on his face.

Makarov nodded, "I thought so as much. Be prepared to leave tonight. I will leave you to discuss strategies and uniforms."

Mira clapped her hands the moment Makarov left, "This is going to be fun! So, what do you think our uniforms should be?"

"I think black," Aria murmured, "Gives off an intimidating air with a dark color. It will put us different than team A since they're most likely picking a bright color. My money is on purple."

Gajeel gave her a look, "Why do you say that?"

"Because your mate is most likely taking charge of the uniforms and colors. You should already know how she is with clothes."

Gajeel winced as he thought back to the week he had shared with Tessa before they separated to their training. She had criticized some of his clothes.

Laxus turned to Jellal, "I think you should tell us what is going on."

* * *

Crocus Capital was ready for the upcoming celebration. Various inns were already reserved for months for the festival. Various townsfolk from all over the country had saved money for months to be able to be a witness of this year's games. The streets were filled with various vendors, balloons, and banners. Music was played loudly

Tessa wanted to enjoy everything that was around her, but she still felt extremely terrible after the spell that was casted in all of them for them to gain more magic power, since they lost their three months thanks to that one day in the Celestial World. She still couldn't believe that had happened. The Celestial World was beautiful with its bright lights and bright colors. The food that all the spirits prepare had been delicious. She couldn't help but wish that Gajeel had been there with her to enjoy it.

But long and behold the surprise they all had when they came back and they had lost all of their training time. Ultear had helped them out, giving them the spell for them to reach their second origin. However, the spell affected her more so than the others. She had a feeling that it had to do with her mating, since during the spell her mating mark on her neck had been burning badly. It took her the longest to snap out of the hot burning pain. Now she felt like she was dragging her feet through the streets of Crocus.

The master had found them, alongside with Bisca, Alzack, their daughter Asuka, Levy, Jet, and Droy. Tessa could clearly hear the mocking comments that nearby tourists were saying the moment Natsu had declared that Fairy Tail would become number one. This led to an explanation on how the games are always different each year.

"I read all the records for previous years and I can't find any set rules!" Levy said defeatedly, clearly disappointed she couldn't provide useful information for the team. Lucy smiled at her and hugged her, "It's okay! We'll figure it out!"

Makarov nodded and gave Erza a giant book, "Read this by tomorrow!"

Tessa's eyes widened as she went to Erza's side, "Holy shit that's a big book!"

Levy's eyes brightened, "I have my Gale reading glasses!" She took a hold of the book and skimmed through it, "Ok so there's three main points. The first one is, that the guild masters are prohibited from participating in the games. Anybody with a guild mark is forbidden from participating… and oh! Everyone must be in their respective inns by midnight. Any other rule is said until the day of the competition."

Erza took in the information and looked at the team, "Well, you all can take the time to explore around, just be sure to be back at our inn by midnight."

She handed them a piece of paper to each and they all grinned. Lucy immediately grabbed Tessa's hand, just as the poor woman was about to ask if the Master had seen her mate.

And with that, all of them left to explore.

* * *

"I fucking hate trains," Aria said groggily as she walked up the stairs to their inn. Traveling to Crocus had been exhausting, them barely making it at their 9 pm check in time. They had to make sure that no one from the guild would see them and Makarov had insisted for them to get to Crocus as late as they could. They had gotten two rooms with three beds each. One room the women would be on it and the other one the guys. Gajeel had almost broke and was tempted to skip the gathering and search for his mate, but he knew he couldn't. he was anxious since he had already gone three months without seeing her, although for her it had only been a few days.

Mira giggled as Aria plopped on the bed, "Maybe you shouldn't have eaten before we took the train."

Her response was a wave with her hand. Juvia and Mira decided to let her rest for a bit before heading to the guys' room to go over some planning as a team. It had almost been impossible to do so on the train ride.

An hour later, the girls went over to the guys' room. Jellal kept his scarf on his face since he didn't want someone accidentally seeing him. For the remainder of the night, they went over plans and reviewing articles over the past years and Jellal tried putting in the pieces together of the Zeref magic that had been detected years prior. They tried learning as much as they could about Sabertooth, and it wasn't until Gajeel pointed out Aria's mood whenever said guild was mentioned, that she finally told them.

 _Tessa didn't tell him anything…  
_  
"Sabertooth's guild master… is my uncle."

Juvia dropped the glass of water she had been drinking, "What?"

Mira kept staring at the picture in one of the article's of Jiemma and back at Aria, "I'm trying to look for a resemblance."

She shook her head, "His wife Marcea was my mother's sister."

Jellal gave her a serious look, "You said, was?"

She swallowed and she felt Laxus putting a hand on her shoulder. Just as she was about to say something, when a loud voice from the outside interrupted her.

" **To all the guild who have gathered for our Grand Magic Games, Good Morning! We will now winnow down the 113 teams competing to eight, and to do that! We will start our PRELIMINARY COMPETITION!"**

Laxus eyes widened, "Son of a bitch!"

They all rushed to the balcony to see a figure wearing a massive pumpkin head with a pointy hat talking. Its frozen smile was making Aria cringe.

* * *

Tessa was beyond worried. Granted, Wendy was the fill in but the young girl _knew_ she needed to be back by midnight. Now that the preliminary competition was going to start and Wendy wasn't back yet it was making her nerves go up.

Erza turned to Elfman, Lisanna, and Romeo, "You three go and find her! This is unusual of Wendy and Carla."

Lucy was biting her nail, "I'm so worried for her."

"I'll look for them too!" Happy exclaimed as he rushed out of the window.

Tessa was looking over at the pumpkin and then turned to Erza, "You think this has anything to do with what Jellal told you?"

The red hair's eyes narrowed, "I'm not so sure. Possibly. However unfortunately we have to keep our minds on the game. 113 teams… that's so many."

"Let's qualify for Wendy," Natsu said seriously.

* * *

" **There are more and more guilds participating every year, and we don't want to spread the fun too thin! So, this year, the competition will be between eight teams only. The contest rules are simple!** "

Suddenly, their inn started to tremble and change shape, like if it was being pushed upwards into the sky by a lever. Aria felt slightly dizzy but she shook it off. It was the worst time for her to get motion sickness.

" **We wish to engage you all in a race and your goal will be the stadium, Doms Fraus! The first eight teams that reach it will be officially entering the tournament. You may use whatever magic as you wish! There are no limits! However, if all five members are not present, you will be eliminated! If any of you loses their lives during the labyrinth, we are not responsible!** "

Suddenly, a ginormous ball shaped labyrinth appeared before them, just after a path had been created.

" **LET THE PRELIMINARY CONTEST TO THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES, THE SKY LABYRINTH, BEGIN!** "

The moment the sound went off, all five of them took off with Laxus on the lead.

"There's 113 teams up there!" Laxus shouted as they got near the entrance, "Blast them away if they get near. Do not engage by yourselves unless it's necessary! We can't risk getting kicked out of this!"

The moment they entered the labyrinth, it was horrendous but magnificent at the same time. Aria knew she was supposed to be getting motion sick, but there was nothing. Once at the platform, Aria stopped and closed her eyes. Her hands were sparkling blue as she clapped her hands together, a thunderous sound echoing.

"What is she doing?" Mira asked with fascination.

Jellal's eyes widened slightly, "She's using her own electricity to find the source of pulses, to see where enemies lay and to properly create a layout of the labyrinth from the shock waves."

She could feel her thunder spreading until her eyes opened, "I think I got it."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Tessa had kicked an unknown guild member and smacked another one with her glass lance when she stopped, "Was that me or was that the sound of thunder?"

Erza snatched the map from another competitor, "Focus on the task! It could just be other battles happening around us!"

Tessa nodded and reverted back to the task at hand, however, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that neither Aria or her own mate had come to wish her good luck.

"Alright I got another map!" Natsu excitedly exclaimed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"What the fuck this thing is moving!" Aria yelled out as she tried to get a hold of the ledge as the labyrinth shifted, but Jellal had been quick enough to elevate her and help her back on the ledge.

"Thanks!" she quickly said. Now that the labyrinth had shifted, she repeated the same motion she had done so until she felt a sole presence in a platform.

"I found it!"

The speed of their team was incredible. Gajeel was having a little too much fun as he happily punched or smacked other competitors disqualifying them. Laxus occasionally used his lightning to get a clear path and Jellal imitated Mystogan's magic to remove competitors from their path. Mira was next to Aria and followed the young woman until the 'GOAL' sign came into view.

Laxus and Aria looked at each other and nodded. They ran in a single line and motioned for the others to grab their hand. Blue and yellow combined into one, enveloping all of them and suddenly they were rushed to the finish line at an incredible speed.

Mira's heart was beating out of her chest, "That was such a rush!"

Gajeel looked at the small pumpkin man, "What place did we come in?"

Mato blinked in shock to see a Fairy Tail team making it so quickly, "Y-You'll find out tomorrow!"

Laxus snorted, "Sabertooh must've come into first."

Aria gazed back into the labyrinth, "Now to hope that the others make it."

* * *

The following day, Lucy was extremely nervous as the cheers of the thunderous crowd could be heard from the inside of their assigned room in the coliseum.

"So many people!" she exclaimed as she finished fixing her hair.

"I never thought so many non magic folks would be here," Gray said.

Tessa sighed, "We have to give it our all. For Wendy. She learned all those spells from Grandeeney for this to happen to her."

Natsu growled, "Whoever did that to her is going to pay!"

Erza looked at Tessa, "Any signs from Gajeel or Aria?"

The brunette sadly shook her head, "I've felt excitement from my link with Gajeel but I have yet to see them. Just wait until I see them. I'm going to kick their asses."

Erza nodded understanding, "Let's go."

The five of them walked side by side, determination spreading through them in a single movement. They had no clue who had hurt Wendy, but they all knew the culprit would be in the games. The poor girl had her magic drained completely, leaving her weak. Carla wasn't fairing any better either. Romeo and Happy had been the ones to find them and the news did not sit well with the rest of the guild. However, Wendy begged them to not worry and to give it their all, for her. And that was exactly what Tessa was going to do. She already had it planned for the small girl to take over for her eventually in the competition because she had worked just as hard. Just before they stepped onto the arena, they did one quick look at their uniform.

Tessa had designed them and she was proud of them. All of them were wearing an outfit that they were known to wear and that it would be comfortable to fight in. The purple was just the right shade to catch the eye but to be subtle. She felt comfortable in her one piece skin tight bodysuit with white thigh high boots. Her shoulders were bare and her long hair was in a single braid and a white belt strapped at her waist.

They were ready to take on anything.

They were the first ones called since they were the last team to qualify. The amount of booing was overwhelming, that anyone with a weak heart and mind would send them running. They held their faces high and proud, smiles spreading in their faces as a single balcony held the entire guild of Fairy Tail.

Tessa's green eyes swept through the group, but they were quickly disappointed when she saw no signs of them still.

"I'm sure they're okay," Lucy said by her side.

"This is ridiculous! What if something happened?" Tessa's worry was growing, but the worry turned into shock when she heard the next group getting called in.

" _Quatro Cerberus!_ "

Tessa's eyes widened, "Oh God…"

Erza looked at her as the woman was looking through the stands, "You okay?"

She laughed nervously, "Maybe it was a good thing Aria isn't here…"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Aria hissed as she rubbed her temples in annoyance. Mira put a hand on her shoulder, "You okay?"

"Out of all fucking guilds they had to make it…"

"What's your deal with them?" Gajeel asked. He needed something to distract him. Hearing them call Fairy Tail sent his senses into a frenzy. Tessa was so near but so far.

Laxus started walking, "We can talk about it later. They're about to call us in."

He was irritated the moment he heard his father's guild, Raven Tail.

As they started walking through the tunnel, Aria nudged Gajeel, "How pissed is she going to be at us?"

He winched, "I'll be surprised if she lets me near her."

* * *

" _Now we are down to two teams who made it into the finals_!"

Tessa stopped growling alongside Natsu at Raven Tail and turned around, "Who else?"

Gray crossed his arms, "One of them is Sabertooth. They're this year's favorite."

" _Now this is a shocker! Will they be the key to restoring the fallen wings to the sky?! I never would have seen this moment!_ "

Tessa openly gawked as the next team walked in.

No… fucking… way!

"Fairy Tail Team B!"

"Laxus, Mira, Gajeel, Aria?! That can't be allowed!" Lucy screamed loudly.

Natsu and Erza walked up to Mystogan. Her eyes were narrowed, "No way."

Mystogan placed his index finger in front of his mouth, "Shh."

Tessa got over her shock and stomped over to them, "What the fu—"

Aria covered her mouth, "There's kids watching this!"

Her eyes flashed in anger and removed her hand, "How can this be?! Is this why I haven't gotten a 'good luck' from either of you?! And you!—" she turned to Gajeel and poked him with her finger, "How dare you leave your mate hanging like that! I've been worried sick!"

The commentators went into a thorough explanation on how this year, guilds were allowed to have two teams since various audience where screaming demanding an explanation. Once the shock died down, and both Fairy Tail Teams declared a temporary rivalry between them, the final team was called.

Aria couldn't find herself to look at them. Her golden eyes swept through the audience until she finally found the person she was searching for.

"Jiemma…" she whispered quietly and she glared.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The Grand Magic Games

After the Opening Ceremony, the judges went into an explanation on how this year's Grand Magic Games would work. Days one through four will consist of both, an event and a battle. Each team would be ranked from first place to eighth place based on their performance during the games and points will be given accordingly depending how the team ranks. Each team will choose a member to participate during the events, but all the battles, the competitors are put against each other on certain factors like audience vote. On battles, the winning team will automatically get ten points, the loser zero. However, if the fight were to end in a draw, each team would obtain five points each.

 **"And now for the opening contest! Prepare for HIDDEN!"**

The moment that Lamia Scale picked Lyon to participate, Gray quickly jumped for Fairy Tail Team A. Fairy Tail B ignored the cries from Juvia up at the stands seeing Gray going up to participate. Mira smiled brightly.

"I think I want to give this a go!"

Laxus glanced at her and nodded, "Don't hold back demon."

They went over to their balcony and waited for the rest of the event to start. The rules were simple and to the point. The participants were sent to a magical town and teleported to different areas. The mage would win one point for every attack to another opponent, but they would lose one point if they were to be attacked. They're given a ten second break after being attacked. Restarts are possible and can be done as many times as necessary during the thirty minutes.

However, Aria's eyes widened as the game started and multiple replicas of each participant appeared.

"Holy crap…" she muttered softly as she leaned over the balcony. Juvia was going more frantic at the sight of hundreds of Gray out in the arena. Gajeel gave her a look and shook his head, "Good thing you didn't go down there. We need to do good in this."

Laxus smirked, "We won't have to worry about that. Look at her hair. She's about to transform."

Aria couldn't even figure out how to describe the moment Mira went into Satan Soul. It was absolutely a sight to see. Gone was the sweet girl and now she stood in her burgandy body suit and her black wings. The she-demon had quickly taken to the sky, and at the sight of unusual movement, she had attacked quickly. Her first victim had been Jager from Quatro Cerberus who didn't stand a chance against her.

Tessa, from her balcony, kept biting her nail as she noticed that Gray was being solely targeted by Nullpudding from Raven Tail. The dark mage wasn't even worried about the rest. He kept going after him.

"Come on Gray!" Tessa yelled out from her spot.

"Dude, you're not supposed to let the same opponent get you twice!"

Due to Mira's aerial advantage, many of the other participants were keeping a lookout for her. Beth from Mermaid Heel had tried to attack her, but had failed miserable as Mira had been faster. She was currently at 2 points, tied with Raven Tail. Eventually she came across Gray, who paled dramatically at the sight of her.

"Hey there Gray!" She smiled brightly.

He quickly got into a battle stance, earning various groans from Fairy Tail.

"There's no way he can go against her…" Lucy quietly said as she stared at the lacrima screen.

Mira winked, "Not yet Gray. Fairy Tail B will face off against Team A, but not today. After all, the deal is to defeat all of you."

Gray dropped his stance, "What do you mean? What deal?"

She gave him a quick recap of the conversation with the Master and Gray quickly went furious, demanding the same deal for their team.

Tessa's mind started to run wild. If her team won, she wasn't gonna have Aria or Gajeel do stuff for her. She would definitely go after the lightning mage who had teased her multiple times back in Edolas.

However, Mira's conversation grew short with Gray the moment she detected Nullpudding and blasted him with her dark magic before he could get Gray again. She winked at Gray.

"Let's make Fairy Tail proud!" And she took off again.

She became faster and more vicious with her blasts, putting her at seven points already. Eve from Blue Pegasus had tried attacking her, but had failed miserably as her own dark magic melted off the snowballs that he had set off from the sky.

The moment she had gotten a glimpse of where Rufus stood, she had taken off into the sky again and immediately attacked with her Soul Extinctor blast. But when the dark magic came in contact with Rufus, it went through. Her eyes swept across the moment she felt him again.

"I don't need a decoy my lady," he said cockily, "It was just a memory of where I stood. And now I have memorized everything."

He raised his palm at her and simply said, "Soul Extinctor."

Mira couldn't react fast enough. The shock of someone else doing her own magic left her frozen in her tracks and she got hit by the blast. Rufus smirked, but didn't stop there.

"NIGHT OF FALLING STARS!"

Multiple shots of light came out of his body and into different directions. He kept ranking up hits while other's scores lowered. Mira was hit again a few times as she tried to get away and groaned in irritation. However, just as she was about to go back after him, the time was up.

Because of the blast, the scoring board changed quickly. Sabertooth was placed at first with ten points, followed by Raven Tail with eight , Lamia Scale six, Blue Pegasus four , Fairy Tail Team B with three, Mermaid Heel two Quatro Cerberus one, and Fairy Tail Team A with zero.

The take over mage reverted back to her normal self, but the murderous look on her face was still there as she glared at both Rufus and Nullpudding. Team A quickly went to meet with Gray, who was clearly upset by the rough loss. Mira made it back to the tunnel just as her team was heading towards the arena.

She tried giving them a smile but it was forced, "I think I underestimated Sabertooth."

Aria shook her head, "You fought well. How were we supposed to know Rufus had memory make magic."

Laxus grunted, "They kept that secret from all the magazine articles we read."

Gajeel sighed, "Let's go back to our spot. The first battle of the day is about to start."

* * *

Fairy Tail Team A could not believe their luck for the first day. First, Raven Tail had a personal vendetta against them. First Wendy, then Gray, and now Lucy. Tessa knew the fight had been rigged. She had never felt so much power come out of the Celestial Mage. Urano Metria was a complicated and powerful spell, but Lucy had done it.

But the spell had failed and Flare had won. She almost lost control. She desperately wanted to head over to the arena and attack the psychotic redhead with various sharp pieces of glass. Maybe that would make the psycho bald. It had been a bullshit of a fight and she had gone on a rant about it.

The rest of the guild was trying their best to cheer them up. However, it was hard to do. The booing and name calling from the audience was rough. She just hoped that they would do better the following day.

As she stared down at her beer while finally being next to Gajeel, she hated to admit, but Mystogan's loss was rather comical. She knew it was Jellal. Her nose couldn't fool her. After all, she had been with the guy during the whole Nirvana incident. And from what Juvia had said, there was only one mage capable of making 'Mystogan' lose his cool. It had been an embarrassing loss of points, making team B still being fifth place.

Aria came up to her, beer in hand and grinned at her, "It's just the first day. Let's not feel like this yet."

"Your teams has some points at least," Tessa quietly said, "Gray hasn't even shown up yet."

Gajeel sighed as he finished his beer, "You gotta cut the kid some slack. That porcupine kept going after him. He'll come around just let him have some time."

Aria looked at Tessa, "What about Lucy?"

"She said she would be here after convincing Gray to come along."

And true enough, not long after did the two of them finally show up. Aria felt horrible for them, so with two drinks on her hands she grinned at them. Juvia was openly glaring at Lucy since her imagination had been going wild.

"I come across the booty chin guy or that freaky red head and I'll get my payback for you two."

Gray gave her a small smile, "Thanks." And with that, he left to go sit at a table near the bar.

She turned back to Lucy who still had a down look on her face, "You did great. You should've wiped her out. We all know you are the true winner here."

Aria saw Laxus coming up to them with his usual hands in his pockets stance, "She's right blondie. Doesn't matter what the scoreboard says, you won tonight."

And finally, Lucy smiled genuinely.

"Thanks guys. That means a lot. This has made me more determined!"

Just then, Makarov got on top of a table and directed himself to all of his children, "We are going to change today's failures into tomorrow's victories! We're going to climb out of this, right?! The word 'surrender' means nothing to us! We WILL aim for number one in Fiore!"

His small speech was all that was needed to lift the spirits of everyone in the guild, specially the competitors. They laughed and they smiled. They continued partying up like if they hadn't been embarrassed.

Natsu was feeling fired up, asking for anyone to fight him. Gajeel was up for the challenge, but Laxus had quickly shut it down.

"You know damn well that 'exhibition' match will turn into something else."

Tessa blamed the alcohol in Gajeel's system for him to be so bold and pet Laxus' head like a dog. Aria snorted by the look Laxus had. Eventually, Tessa dragged Gajeel out of the bar in order to have a discussion of 'To not let your mate be worried.' Privately.

Overall, this was the night they needed to replenish their lost spirits and to look forward to the next of the competition.

* * *

The morning of the second day was not a pleasant thing for Team B. Aria and Gajeel had gotten into a huge argument. Gajeel got wind that Natsu was going to participate on the event for the second day regarding of what it was and he wanted to do it. Aria argued that Gajeel would be more focused on his rivalry with the pyro and jeopardize points for them. It had been a huge argument between the two, but somehow Aria won that she would be the one participating instead. Gajeel was fuming as him and the rest of the team made their way over to the balcony while the participants got ready for the next event called Chariot.

Natsu's eyes brighten the moment she came into view in the outskirts of the city of Crocus, "I thought Gajeel wanted to take me on!"

She rolled her eyes, "His metal head would not focus if he did."

He grinned at her, "Well I'm not holding back with you either!"

She smiled at him, "I wouldn't have it any other way gecko."

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

Aria's smile instantly disappeared and turned into a scowl. Natsu was confused at her sudden change of mood. She turned around and raised her eyebrow.

"What do you want Bacchus?"

The man laughed loudly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "Aw come on. I haven't seen you in years! You look as beautiful as ever. Say, want to hang out today after all of this? You know, like old times."

He had stepped closer to her, his taller form towering over her and was leaning in, a mischievous smirk on his face. Her eyebrow twitched with irritation and was contemplating whether or not rip off his arm from her. She took a step away and stood next to Natsu, "Wouldn't dream of it. Fuck off."

He laughed loudly, "Are you still mad about what happened?"

She glared and didn't reply. Bacchus kept staring at her with his widening smirk, "I should apologize. I mean, I do miss you."

She rolled her eyes, "Well you're going to have to continue missing me."

And with that she stalked off, but that's when she noticed the flying lacrima camera and her eyes widened.

" **What is this?! Aria Krane from Fairy Tail has a history with Bacchus Groh?! Unbelievable!"**

" **This is so cooooool!"**

 **"Would this turn into a love triangle? Sorcerer Weekly did print out a few pictures of her and Laxus Dreyar a while back!"**

 _Fucking kill me right now,_ she thought as she buried her face in her hands and stood away as far as possible from the blasted camera.

Lucy and Erza were gaping at the lacrima screens with eyes wide and mouths open. The two women immediately turned to Tessa who had smacked her palm on her face and was muttering under her breath.

"Aria dated Bacchus?!" Erza immediately asked the other mage.

Tessa sighed and nodded, "For like, six or eight months I think? She found him in bed with someone else…"

"I don't know whether to laugh or feel bad for her," Lucy commented as the lacrima camera switched to Bacchus' face.

Erza still couldn't believe it since she personally had fought against Bacchus before and knows how his personality could be.

Gray cleared his throat awkwardly, "Is it me or does Laxus look pretty annoyed from here?"

The girls stopped talking and their eyes widened when indeed, even if it was across from them, they could see the annoyance from Laxus.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

She regretted the fact that she was participating on today's event. She so wished it was Gajeel Redfox the one in her place right at that moment. The event was that all competitors had to race along the tops of interconnected chariots. They could use magic to boost their speed or to hinder the other competitors, but if they were to fall off the chariots, they were automatically disqualified.

She had been confident at first, but then the chariots started to move. Natsu was fairing the worst out of the two of them, his face going from either purple or green various times. He kept burping and she would just pray above that he would not puke. Sting, one of Sabertooth dragon slayers, wasn't doing that much well either. However, pure hot fury spread through her the moment she felt a smack on her ass and Bacchus' laugh fading away as he took off.

She was sweating profusely and her stomach kept making various flips. Everything around her was moving in waves as well, making her nausea ten times worse.

"Just wait until I get my hands on him…"

She's had bad cases of motion sickness before, but this was at a whole new level. She couldn't even transform to take off. She didn't have the strength to do so.

And then Sting started to talk. Asking them why Fairy Tail had joined the games, on how the guild wasn't what it used to be. Natsu's response had been incredible. She didn't even have to say anything because Natsu's response was on point.

But she knew Sting wouldn't understand that. She didn't see him as an idiot, but she knew exactly how Jiemma could be. And that was another thing. Her uncle was currently seeing her in her weakest state which was motion sickness. Talk about a horrible first impression type of thing. Natsu ended up taking sixth place and herself seventh. She knew she could've been in front of him and get the two points for her team, but she knew Natsu deserved it.

Although she was shaking and she was in the verge of puking her stomach out, she gave Natsu her hand as he was laying on the floor catching his breath, his face still pale and sweating. He took her hand and she pulled him up. With a grin on her face she raised their arms, greeting the cheers from the crowd that had been moved by Natsu's speech.

 _Screw what Jiemma may think of me right now,_ she thought as she helped Natsu leave the field.

After drinking and splashing water on her face to snap out of her sickness, she finally made her way over to the balcony of Team B. All of them congratulated her for her effort, although she could see that Gajeel was grateful that it had not been him down there. However, the one that had yet to say a word to her was Laxus. Just a nod. No words of making fun of her misery, nothing.

He really didn't know what to think.

The jealousy he felt hearing that they had a history and seeing him so close to her almost made him snap and head over to the arena and beat the shit out of the other mage. It had been an overwhelming feel of pure hot jealousy in the pit of his stomach.

He also felt angry because she had never once mentioned she had dated Bacchus of all people. Why hadn't she said anything?

That's when he had to get a hold of himself. Aria had no obligations whatsoever to tell him anything of her personal life. They weren't together or anything. Besides, he was no one to judge by the taste she had by dating fucking Bacchus.

He himself didn't have a good track record. That's what got him with the whole situation with Aria in the first place. However, seeing Bacchus smacking her ass as he took off made Laxus almost lose his shit completely. He was still going various forms of beating the crap out of the mage when the first fight was announced and he thanked whoever was above from the distraction.

The fight had been rather sad, with Kuroheby from Raven Tail beating and then humiliating Toby from Lamia Scale. Erza was furious and it took Tessa, Gray, and Lucy to hold back the mage from flinging herself to the arena and beating the crap out of Kuroheby. Aria, with the help of Lucy, had taken Natsu to the infirmary since he still felt his motion sickness although he was on set ground. This gave Aria an opportunity to check on Wendy and Carla. The exceed had made full progress but Wendy was still weak from her attack.

However, it was the second fight of the day that brought shock through the guild when it was announced.

" **And now, for the second match of the day! Wow! This might be an interesting fight! To the field, Gajeel from Fairy Tail Team B and Bacchus Groh from Quatro Cerberus!"**

" **This is soooo cool!"**

" **I wonder if there's a difference on his fighting skills now that the young mage is mated."**

" **Tessa Ivanov is beyond beautiful! Gajeel is one lucky mage!"**

Tessa's mouth was open in shock and her green eyes were wide beyond belief. How did they know about her mating Gajeel? And also, the fight literally made no sense whatsoever. Why would Gajeel face against Bacchus? It made more sense if Erza had, since the woman had fought the drunk in the past. Hell even Aria. But Gajeel?

The iron slayer stepped onto the field, his red eyes settling on his opponent. This wasn't the fight he had been expecting, but by the way the crowd was cheering it seemed that he may have a good fight on his hands at least.

"I was hoping I would fight Aria, Erza, or even the lightning bolt," Bacchus said from his spot on the ground where he was casually sitting, "But I guess you will do."

Gajeel didn't say anything as he glared. Bacchus almost rolled his eyes. He was expecting a reaction out of him. His dark eyes swept through both Fairy Tail balconies, "Let's make this more interesting. I win, I spend the night with both Aria _and_ Tessa," his smirked widened as he took in a predatory glint in his eyes, "I've been with married women before, I wonder if there's a difference with someone that is mated?"

Up on either balcony, both girls were being restrained as they were trying to hop over and beat him themselves.

"YOU SLIMY TWO TIMING FUCKING PIG!" Aria screamed as she struggled against Laxus who had both arms wrapped around her tightly as she was thrashing around. Mira and Juvia kept trying to talk to her but she wasn't having it.

Lucy, Gray, and Erza were having a hard time with Tessa too, "WHAT THE FU- GAJEEL IF YOU DON'T CASTRATE HIM I FUCKING WILL!"

"Oh goodness," Mavis said from her spot in the guild's balcony, "This fight is not lasting long."

"Why do you say that First Master?" Cana asked.

"It's simple really," the spirit responded with a smile on her face, "You never bring up a dragon slayer's mate into a fight."

The moment the gong sounded off, Bacchus decided to be the first one to attack since Gajeel had not moved. He really thought the dragon slayer was in too much shock because he knew he was going to lose a fight against him. After all, he was an S Class mage for his own guild.

Gajeel was still standing until Bacchus got into a certain distance from him. Before the drunk could even think of landing a hit on him, Gajeel had dodged and punched Bacchus with his iron club on his stomach, knocking the air out of Bacchus immediately.

That was followed by an iron kick to the face as well. Blood splattered everywhere from Bacchus' mouth.

The audience was beyond shocked to see a well known mage getting plummeted. Gajeel wasn't giving him a break. It was hit after hit with a part of his body covered in iron clubs. Bacchus saw an opportunity to get a hit on, but the moment his palm came in contact with Gajeel's torso, he cried out in pain. The entire arena heard the bones snapping through the lacrima.

The expectators gasped, the commentators were making loud and exciting comments, Fairy Tail was losing their minds over the fight.

Gajeel grabbed Bacchus and threw him up in the air. The lacrima camera had a hard time keeping up with Gajeel's speed as he reappeared alongisde Bacchus and raised his hands.

" _DRAGON SLAYER SECRET ART! KARMA DEMON: IRON GOD SWORD!"_

The arena exploded and dust flew everywhere. A hushed silence fell as no one could hear anything from the two fighting mages. Tessa had stopped struggling the moment Gajeel called out his attack, knowing well what it could do.

Once the smoke cleared, in the center of a crater, was Gajeel holding Bacchus by the neck.

"This is the last time you will say anything about a woman in my guild- let alone touch them," He brought the man's beat up face closer, "And the last time my mate's name comes out of your mouth."

And with that, he discarded Bacchus like if the man weighed nothing.

" **THIS IS IT FOLKS! BLACK STEELE GAJEEL WINS TEN POINTS FOR FAIRY TAIL TEAM B!"**

Lucy was openly gawking, "He won! Even Erza had a hard time with the guy and Bacchus barely did anything against him!"

Tessa was leaning over the balcony, her chin resting on her palm as a grin spread across her face as she made eye contact with him, "That's what happens when you bring up a dragon's mate."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Looking Glass

Tessa had desperately wanted to go find Gajeel after the fight, but her body was frozen when the next fight was called.

" **This is soooo cooool!"**

" **Please to the arena, Eve Tearm and Tessa Ivanov!"**

Laxus snorted the moment he heard her last name again. He leaned over to Gajeel and casually said, "Somebody hasn't changed her last name."

Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Shut the fuck up and let me watch."

"LET'S GO TESSA!" Aria cheered loudly, bad mood completely forgotten since Gajeel had beaten the crap out of Bacchus.

She still didn't know what had possessed her to be with the man for close to eight months. She had met him a few months after what happened after encountering Marcea again and in all reality, she was not in a good mental state during the time. She needed a distraction and Bacchus was there and he was fun. She knew she was not going to have a future with the man. A drunk and a well known womanizer? No way that was going anywhere. But she had stayed and she had somewhat of a good relationship although it was mainly physical. However, although she did not see a future with him, finding him in bed with someone else made her furious.

She had almost revealed her magic to him in that moment.

Her eyes went from watching the arena, that had been magically reconstructed after the mess Gajeel did, to the blonde mage who seemed a lot more relaxed after Gajeel's fight. He still hadn't said a word to her.

* * *

Tessa smiled and waved at Eve, "It's been a long time!"

The young man smiled politely and bowed, "Indeed, you're as beautiful as ever!"

Tessa almost busted out laughing when she felt a strong feel of annoyance and jealousy from her mate through the link.

"I'm not going easy on you kid," She said as she got into a battle stance.

His blue eyes sparkled with determination, "Neither am I!"

The moment that the gong sounded off, the battle began quickly. Eve wasted no time as he extended his right arm forward with an open palm and placed his left hand on his right forearm, "White Fury!"

A snowstorm immediately was generated from his right palm and shot it directly at Tessa. The slayer was ready, immediately materializing her glass lance on her left arm and started to spin it at a fast speed in front of her, to prevent the snowstorm to collide with her. Eve intensified the amount of power on the snowstorm, but it seemed that Tessa was spinning her lance even faster. He finally stopped his attack and as Tessa dashed at him, he used his Snow Clone to throw her off, but just as he was about to attack her from the side, the woman had materialized two glass long swords and attacked him.

He rolled on the floor, and as he got up, his eyes were wide in disbelief since no one had ever been able to evade his attack like that before.

She grinned as she made the swords disappear, "I'm a dragon slayer kid, my nose doesn't fool me."

She sprinted towards him and with a quick roll on the ground, she landed behind Eve. Just as he turned around, she landed a magnificent upper cut on him. The crowd went wild at the sight. Gajeel's smirk kept widening.

" **This is unbelievable folks! Another female dragon slayer in Fairy Tail!"**

" **A glass one from what it seems like!**

" **Indeed when Tessa and Gajeel have children I bet they will be a force to reckon with!** "

Hearing that instantly made her go red in the face.

She took a deep breath shook away the embarrassment from Gajeel and hers. Her whole arms were suddenly covered in sharp pieces of glass, resembling scales, and she sprinted towards Eve again. However, he was smarter than what he looked and didn't fall for it a second time. He kept putting up walls of snow as a defense mechanism against her dangerous punches. He could see the sharpness of the glass on her arms and forearms.

He created a thicker wall of snow, to the point that she was having difficulties digging through it. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance, " _GLASS DRAGON IRON FIST!_ "

Her glass glowed beautifully with the sunlight and she completely broke through the snow wall, sending Eve crashing onto the ground again. The audience roared loudly, but the only thing that made her happy was the amount of pride coming through the link.

Eve panted as he held on to his arm, "I think it's about time to get serious."

His whole being started to glow a beautiful white color and the wind started to pick around him. Tessa got into a stance, heightening her senses as she waited for whatever he was about to throw at her. However, she wasn't fully prepared for what happened next. He extended his arm frontwards when a severe snowstorm covered the entire arena. The wind was blowing rapidly and the temperature was dropping dramatically. She quickly surrounded herself with her glass, in a shield type manner. But as she stood there, she couldn't see anything around her. The blizzard seemed to be just getting worse, and within her shield she wasn't having much luck of keeping herself warm.

Suddenly, a wolf like claw shot at her, but it crashed against her glass. This happened over and over.

 _I have to do something if not, time will run out!  
_  
She started to shiver more and more as the temperature continued to drop. But through the blizzard, she could barely make out a voice.

"…lass….sun….!"

She whirled her head around, "What?!"

"..g..lass….sun….me..lt…!"

She was confused for a moment, but then it clicked.

"Nice try Eve, but your snow is about to get melted off!"

She knew she had to act fast the moment she dropped her shield, but she knew the plan would work in her favor. Through the storm, she could see the small glimpses of sunlight and that's all she needed. She took a deep breath and dropped her glass shield.

She raised her arms and her aura exploded around her. Her arms glowed in their rainbow color and energy shot up, breaking through the storm.

The audience gasped as multiple layers of glass started forming over the arena, one over the other, to the point that it had created a magnifying glass. Her arms were shivering and she could hardly see when finally, peaks of sunlight started to break through. The heat started to rise as the sunlight was hitting directly her magnifying glass that the snow started to melt off around the arena.

Eve was baffled as all the snow from the arena melted, creating the storm to die down.

Aria grinned from her spot at the balcony. She had heard her.

Eve took in the way her hair was undone and now lay flat against her head and the way her lips were a slight shade of blue.

"I have to admit, that was rather impressive! But just because you melted my storm, it doesn't mean you've won."

Her eyes flashed and she grinned wickedly, "I just did kid."

She inhaled deeply, ignoring the contraction of her lungs since they were still cold. Eve's eyes widened, knowing damn well what she was doing, as it was a signature move in all dragon slayers. He tried backing away, but he found himself hitting a glass wall. He went right and then left, but he was trapped.

He didn't have the power to stop a dragon slayer's roar.

" _GLASS DRAGON ROAR_!" She screamed loudly as the roar came out of her mouth. The audience gasped at the beauty of it as it resembled the colors of the rainbow. All he could do was brace himself for the impact and he cried out the moment it did.

The explosion had been deadly, but beautiful at the same time as tiny spectacles of glass floated around the arena the moment the attack vanished. Once the smoke cleared, Eve was unconscious on the floor.

" **THAT IS IT FOLKS! WHAT A SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCE! FAIRY TAIL A TAKES TEN POINTS!"  
**  
" **Two dragon slayers in one day! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!"**

Everyone in Fairy Tail were the first ones to cheer loudly at her winning. Lily was practically crying, having both Carla and Happy on a bone crushing hug as he kept screaming how proud he was. She smiled widely and accepted the thunderous clapping and cheering from the audience. Sabertooth could only glare slightly from their balcony. Rogue could see that Gajeel was still living up to his reputation even after seven years of being stuck.

However, from the stands, Jiemma could only wonder if his niece was just as strong.

* * *

The two of them were walking side by side. They had gone back to their rooms to shower and change after the day's matches and both of them felt refreshed, specially Tessa since she dealt with really dramatic changes of temperature.

"You know," she said as she bumped him with her hip, "Part of me feels you overdid it with Bacchus but the other part of me feels it wasn't enough."

He rolled his eyes and grunted, "Can't never make you fully happy. Damn woman."

She laughed as she hopped and stood in front of him, "Oh you definitely made me happy with that."

She went up her tippy toes and pecked him on the lips, however before she could pull away, he put a hand on the back of her neck and the other one on her waist.

He kissed her more fully and when he pulled away, his chest rumbled low and pleasantly as he saw the beautiful blush on her creamy skin.

"That's better."

She smiled as she snuggled on his chest, "Come on. They're going to be wondering where we are at."

He grunted as they started to walk, "We could've continued our own celebration instead of coming down and seeing all them morons."

She smacked his chest, "Don't be an asshole. Besides, if you really think about it, I shouldn't even be with you right now."

He stopped walking and his face turned into a full on scowl, "The hell you mean?"

Her eyes were shining playfully as she turned around. She walked up to him, and looked around to make sure no one was watching, and she put her hand on the side of her mouth.

"I shouldn't be sleeping with the enemy." Her voice was in a harsh whisper.

He crossed his arms and gave her a look, "Oh really?"

"I'm fraternizing with the enemy!" She exclaimed louder. She turned around and attempted to take off but Gajeel immediately caught her, slinging her over his shoulder and gave her a loud smack on her rear end.

She gasped when she felt the slap and slammed her hands on his back "Put me down you brute! I can walk!"

"Nah I think we're going to continue walking like this. Please continue on on how you're fraternizing with the enemy."

Her laugh echoed on the empty street.

That night at the Fairy Tail bar, the partying was more explosive than ever. Everyone swarmed Tessa the moment she came into the bar with Gajeel, who had thankfully put her down before they got to the bar, various screams of congratulations thrown at her and him. Tessa's smiled grew when she saw Wendy running up to her to give her a hug.

"That was amazing!" Wendy exclaimed, "How did you figure out how to melt his snow?!"

Tessa grinned, "I heard a little voice, that I hardly ever listen to in the back of my head and decided to give it a try. It worked!"

"You know—if you listened to me more often how you did today, we would've gotten out of a lot of shit in our younger days."

Tessa laughed, "That was you?"

"I'm surprised you heard me through the storm."

Tessa stopped and looked at her confused, "I thought you said through our link?"

Aria shook her head as she drank her beer, "Our link was practically destroyed when you mated metal head. Which by the way," she said as she turned to Gajeel, "Thanks for that at the arena."

Gajeel smirked and ruffled her hair, "Now don't get sentimental on me. Not my fault you had shitty taste on men."

Aria glared at him through her now messy hair, "Please don't remind me."

Eventually, Lucy, Natsu, Wendy and the exceeds were going to check out an ice cream shop that would stay open 24/7 and they asked if they wanted to come along. Tessa and Gajeel refused and Aria was about to say no until Laxus came in with the Thunder Legion and his eyes immediately landed on hers.

She was the first one out the door just when Makarov needed to talk to everybody.

She hadn't heard what happened back in the infirmary until now that she was walking with them. Just like Carla, she could only wonder why Raven Tail was after Lucy.

However according to Happy, she had a knack of always getting kidnapped somehow.

The blonde tried to protest but she knew the blue exceed was right. For some reason the bad guys were always after her. It explained why Makarov wanted to talk to them. As they were talking, they came across the Celestial Mage from Sabertooth, Yukino.

Aria immediately had a bad feeling since she could smell the scent of water and salt. The young woman had been crying. Lucy offered to take her back to their team's room, to give them more privacy to talk.

The woman was barely holding it together, but it wasn't until Lucy refused to take her keys, that the woman finally broke down.

"I-I have never received such kindness!" She cried out, "It was just horrible. He made me strip in front of everyone in the guild and I had to remove my _own guild mark._ "

Lucy gasped alongside Wendy and Carla. Natsu was beyond shocked.

Aria?

She felt like she was going to be sick.

The humiliation the poor girl had to endure just because she lost was sickening.

She stayed with them for a while, but then she mentioned how she had a train to catch and left.

Lucy was worried for Natsu. She knew how much the meaning of a guild meant to him. Aria stayed with them for as long as she could and ended up opening up to them about her own past.

"I'm not sure if Tessa has told anything to you guys but… Jiemma, Sabertooth's Master is my uncle."

Their eyes had widened dramatically she almost laughed. Almost.

"My mother died when she gave birth to me. My father was killed when I was a few months old. He was a soldier. Only remaining family members I had was my mother's sister Marcea and her husband Jiemma. It wasn't until I was old enough they started to train me, to get some sort of magic out of me but it wasn't working. Jiemma was set on being guild master and he didn't want anyone to be weak. When I was three my niece was born and I was prohibited to be around her. The abuse continued for seven more years…" she paused for a second as she unzipped her jacket and pulled her shirt down a bit, "When I was ten that's when they put the lacrima in me. However it wouldn't do anything, at least for a year. Once I started to show magic it was out of control. They would beat me and scream at me that I was just too weak to wield it and that I was useless… It was on the year 777 shortly after the dragons disappeared that I met Tessa… She practically saved me… I ran away with her and didn't see my so called family until I was sixteen… me and Tessa were trapped… Marcea stabbed Tessa and I lost it. My magic just splurged out of me out of control and I killed everyone including my aunt. After that I refused to use my magic again. Tessa could only do so much so I stopped using it altogether until Fantasia when I met all of you."

The room was eerie quiet when she was done. She was afraid to look at them in the eye. She was afraid to see pity or worse, fear of what she used to be capable of. Suddenly, the air was almost knocked out of her because Natsu pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Then it was followed by Lucy and Wendy. She could feel Carla and Happy hugging her legs.

She was shocked and her eyes were wide in confusion, "What?"

"No one deserves that," Natsu told her by her ear.

Lucy started to cry, "I'm so glad you're with us and don't have to go through something like that again."

Wendy squeezed her waist, "You're our family."

She felt herself shake and a lone tear fell down her cheek.

They let her go and Natsu said he needed some fresh air so he left with happy.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes that he left, that it dawned on Aria.

"I have to find him."

* * *

She didn't know where Sabertooth's guild hall was at. It was already late at night so it's not like she could just ask anyone. She ran around the streets for a bit. It wasn't until she caught a whiff of burnt firewood and a nearby explosion that she knew where she needed to go.

She sprinted and as she got closer she could hear him loud and clear followed by a huge explosion of fire.

"WHAT KIND OF GUILD MASTER ARE YOU THAT ABUSES THEIR OWN FAMILY AND THROWS OUT HIS MEMBERS LIKE IF THEY MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?!"

She couldn't hear anything else as she arrived. There was debris everywhere and smoke. Suddenly, Minerva's voice echoed, telling Natsu that it was better to settle matters into the arena instead of getting the authorities involved.

That's when she walked in, to pull Natsu away so he wouldn't cause more issues. However, hearing Happy crying and Minerva threatening Natsu with the exceed drove her almost to the edge.

"You're just as sick as your father. Let Happy go Minerva."

Murmurs from Sabertooth's members were ringing in her ears. The smoke finally cleared and she came into view. Natsu turned around, shocked that she was there. Minerva's eyes widened but then narrowed.

"Well well. Are you finally coming back home cousin?"

Aria's eyes flashed as she stood next to Natsu, "Let Happy go. I won't repeat myself again."

Minerva smirked as she let go of the blue cat who immediately ran to Natsu crying. Happy kept apologizing over and over again and Natsu could only comfort him.

With that, the two of them turned around to leave.

"I didn't know that Fairy Tail accepted murderers into their guild. No wonder the guild fell at the bottom of the pyramid."

Aria was in front of her in an instant, her eyes seething with barely controllable anger.

"That's the difference with Fairy Tail that Sabertooth will never have," she hissed at her, "Second chances. An opportunity to redeem yourself. Funny how they have treated me like family unlike your Father and Mother."

Minerva's eyes widened, "Don't you dare talk about my mother!"

Aria's eyes turned cold, "Her death… she brought it upon herself."

Jiemma took a step forward and her cold hard gaze fell on him, "Don't even bother. I'm not afraid of you anymore. I'm out of here."

She turned to walk away and she heard Minerva's last words.

"We will settle this in the arena then."

Aria didn't bother to turn around, "We will."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Shadows

"What the hell Natsu?! Why would you do that?!"

Erza was beyond mad. She couldn't believe that Natsu had gone and broke rampage at Sabertooth's guild.

"They had it coming Erza," he said, "You didn't see Yukino. You didn't hear what Aria said. What he did to her."

Erza turned to Wendy, Tessa, and Lucy, expecting them to say something about how reckless Natsu had been but nothing. Not even Carla.

"You could've have costed us the competition!"

"What's done is done Erza," Tessa said from her seat, "We can't go back and stop him. I'm just more concerned now that Minerva and Aria saw each other."

Gray grunted as he crossed his arms, "I'm more mad that you didn't take me with you flame breath."

Erza looked at Tessa confused, "What do you mean?"

Lucy sighed, "Aria is related to them. She's Minerva's cousin. Her aunt and Jiemma forced the lacrima inside her. You didn't hear the stuff they did to her…"

"I'm pretty sure she censored it too because I was there," Wendy said softly as she continued to pet a sleeping Happy.

Tessa sighed heavily, "You have no idea."

Lucy looked at Natsu, "Where did Aria go?"

"She said she was going back to her inn."

* * *

He had gone to another bar to get away from the rambunctiousness from his guild. A moment to clear his head. It was probably four in the morning, way too late for him to be out. Some of the women at the bar had recognized him and one of them had invited him back to her room with her friends for a more _private_ gathering. He had refused quickly but since there was nothing else to do, he stayed with them to continue drinking.

He knew they had been shamelessly flirting with him, but he never reciprocated. He didn't want that biting him in the ass again.

Tired and slightly drunk, he made his way over to the inn and just as he was arriving, so was Aria. He noticed that she was deep in thought, but even as she noticed his presence she just went inside the inn without a word.

Now he was even more confused because all he could smell was Natsu's fire on her.

 _What the hell happened?_ He couldn't help but think.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"I heard what happened from Erza," Makarov said seriously as he had gathered both teams, "And although I understand your intentions were good Natsu, you could've put the whole guild at risk."

His gaze fell on Aria who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, "In all honesty I am concerned how the encounter of last night could be affecting you. So I have decided to give you the day off. Clear your head. Cana will take your place since Juvia is already taking Mystogan's."

She gave him a nod, "I understand."

"Good!" He said as he clapped his hands, "You're more than welcome to watch today from your team's balcony either way. I will leave you guys to talk but don't take too long. Games are going to start in an hour."

And as soon as the Master left, those that were clueless whirled around on both Natsu and Aria.

"What happened?" Cana asked as she chugged on her bottle.

Gajeel couldn't say he blamed Natsu for his actions. He would have done the same thing if he had been with them. However, he was curious on how Laxus was going to react.

Lucy took in the bags under Aria's eyes and decided to answer for her.

"Last night we came across Yukino. Jiemma kicked her out for losing against Kagura. Humiliated her in front of everyone. Aria was with us and once Yukino left, she told us about… her past."

"Natsu left soon after that until Aria realized the mistake of letting him go by himself," Wendy added in softly.

Aria decided to cut in, "By the time I found him the damage had been done. Natsu beat the crap out of Jiemma. Only thing that stopped him was that Minerva… my cousin, took Happy as a hostage."

Cana was the only one that didn't know of her relationship with Jiemma and her eyes were wide in shock.

"I don't regret what I did," the fire mage said, "I would do it all over again." He turned to look at Aria, "I'm glad that you and Tessa joined us. We are your family now."

Laxus couldn't bring himself to say anything. What _could_ he say? He couldn't even imagine how Aria felt by seeing her abuser of her childhood. How she felt by seeing her cousin who despised her.

"Let's start heading out," he said, "We don't know what today will consist of."

They started leaving the room but stopped her as he got a hold of her hand. She finally looked at him and he could see the redness around the edge of her eyes.

"You sure you want to be at the coliseum today? I'm sure I can find a replacement and we can go and do something. Whatever you want."

Her eyes widened. She thought he was joking but there was no signs of that in his face. His gray eyes were seriously looking at her. She felt herself blush at his gesture.

"I'll be fine. Besides the guild needs you to participate. Don't worry, I'll be okay."

She looked down at her hand that he was still holding and looked back up at him, a small smile on her face, "Thank you though."

She gave him a squeeze and that's when he realized he was still holding on to her. He let her go and gave her a small smile of his own.

"Any time."

* * *

The third day of the Grand Magic Games would be a day that would forever be talked about. A moment that made it into history. A moment where the guild that had fallen, had finally been given the respect they needed. The event Pandemonium was terrifying but thrilling at the same time. With the luck of the draw, Erza Scarlet was the first to go up to call out the number of monsters, which were all leveled by strength, and she shocked the entire audience and fellow guild members when she called out all one hundred monsters.

It was once she heard that, that Aria finally snapped out of staring contest with Minerva from across the stadium. They had been glaring at each other the moment they made eye contact when she had arrived at the balcony.

She blinked and leaned down the railing, "Did she really just call out all of them?"

Mira giggled, "Yes she did."

"She's insane," Aria said quietly. She felt Gajeel lean against the railing and he snorted, "At least she's sober. Cana is already plastered."

Aria made a face when her eyes landed on the tall brunette who kept chugging the flask she had with her. Aria could just bet Cana still had more inside her small purse.

"Maybe the Master should've picked someone else to replace my spot today," she said with a nervous laugh.

Over at the Fairy Tail Team A balcony, Tessa was screaming loudly.

"GET THEM ERZA! SHOW THEM HOW IT'S DONE!"

Lucy couldn't help but be nervous alongside Wendy, "Don't you think it's a little extreme?"

Gray snorted and Natsu laughed, "She's got this on the bag."

And truth to be told, the salamander was right.

Erza went in, attacking head on to figure out the weaknesses and which armors to use with specific monsters. The entire crowd was under a spell as the beautiful Titania slashed away at every single monster. It didn't matter that she was obtaining injuries of her own, she fought even harder. Every monster that kept getting in her way kept getting obliterated by the fierceness of the red head. This was the power of Erza Scarlet.

The entire event was beyond beautiful. Those that were still unsure about Fairy Tail, even after seeing Gajeel and Tessa on the field, were now roaring in applause and loud screams as Erza raised her sword after effectively defeating the last S-Class monster. She was exhausted, sweaty, covered in blood and bruises, but she blossomed like a scarlet flower.

It was hard not to cry or at least feel overwhelmed with feelings. The whole sight of it was breathtaking. Lucy was holding on to Wendy and Tessa, as the three of them were crying out of happiness. Natsu and Gray were beyond proud and the entire balcony that held their guild members were in tears.

" **I-I DON'T BELIEVE MY EYES! ALL ALONE, SHE VANQUISHED A HUNDRED MONSTERS. SHE HAS CLEARED THE ENTIRE PALACE! IS THIS THE TRUE POWER OF THE GUILD THAT SEVEN YEARS AGO, WAS KNOWN AS THE STRONGEST IN THE LAND?!** "

"Holy shit," Aria whispered, "She's incredible…"

Laxus smirked as Team A finally got over their shock and were rushing towards the field, "She's terrifying."

"Definitely not someone I would want to piss off," Gajeel said with a smirk on his face.

Mira was clapping her hands, "They truly needed the points!"

For the remainder of the event, a magical orb known as the Magic Power Finder, was brought out. Each remaining contestant would attack the orb and their magical power would then be assigned a point value and display it. They continued going to the order when they first had drawn the straws. That instantly brought concern to Team B as Cana's blush was worse than before and she was burping.

"That drunkard!" Gajeel yelled out as saw her sway.

"We'll get nothing out of her…" Laxus said with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Aria face palmed herself.

Milliana was the first to go up, her score reflecting the one of a Rune Knight leader. However, what had Aria painfully holding her sides was when Nobarly from Bacchus' guild scored less and even more so when Hibiki didn't even score a hundred.

Suspicious was the fact that Obra only scored four on the meter.

Next up was Orga from Sabertooth. He scored just about four thousand points. He had caught her interest because on the first day he had destroyed his opponent with one blow and he was there the previous night when she went to retrieve Natsu from Sabertooth.

However she knew the lightning mage behind her was feeling pretty competitive with having another lightning mage around.

Next up was Jura, who incredibly scored over eight thousand points leaving almost everyone gaping at the display of power.

"Talk about a monster," Laxus commented.

And finally came Cana's turn. Aria was hoping that the woman would score them decently, but by how red she was and the way she was walking towards the meter was making her think otherwise. Cana removed her purse and threw the bottle and started to take off her shirt.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Gajeel asked as she tossed the her shirt to the side.

Carla's eyes widened from Team A's balcony, "That mark!"

"Now, time for the grand finale!" Cana exclaimed, raising her right arm up in the air as her magical energy started to revolve around her, " _To me! River of light that guides the fairies! Shine! Break the evil fangs of those who would threaten us!"_ She brought her hand down and pointed her extended hand and fist at the meter, " _FAIRY GLITTER!_ "

"Holy shit!" Aria exclaimed as the entire arena exploded when Cana released Fairy Glitter. As the smoke cleared, the meter was broken and completely maxed out. The crowd roared with applause and cheers instantaneously.

"Sneaky Mavis giving her the spell," Lucy said as she saw the familiar ghost up in the guild's balcony.

Tessa grinned, "Look at the crowd. They're more impressed than yesterday!"

" **What is this guild made of?! First Gajeel and Tessa yesterday, now Erza and Cana? Can anyone stop them now!?** "

Cana welcomed the loud cheers of the crowds, extending her arms, "NO ONE CAN STOP US! WHY? BECAUSE WE ARE FAIRY TAIL!"

* * *

During the break while the arena was getting ready for the first match of the day, both Fairy Tail teams met up with each other, to congratulate one another more properly. Aria instantly had jumped on Cana.

"That was amazing! I didn't know you could do it!"

Cana grinned, "Back at Tenrou, I mastered the spell!"

"By the rate we are going, we are definitely going to win this," Tessa said, "The audience hasn't even seen Natsu, Aria, and Laxus up on a fight yet either."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Erza said, "There's a lot of fighters from the other guilds that haven't gone up. It isn't over yet."

Natsu laughed, "Come on Erza! We have this on the bag!"

"She's right!" Carla quickly intercepted, "We can't get cocky. What's going to happen when Team A and Team B have to fight?"

The moment she said it, there were instant smirks from both teams as they stared at each other. Happy and Panther Lily kept looking at both teams and Happy swallowed, "I don't think you should've reminded them of that Carla…"

Laxus snorted as he turned and walked away, "We will see which team is the strongest when the time comes. For now, let's head back. The battles should be starting soon."

However, both Gajeel and Aria were having a staring competition against Natsu and Tessa.

"You sure you will be able to handle me if it happens?" Tessa said with a smirk as she placed her hand on her hips.

Aria crossed her arms, "I think you should be the one to worry about that."

Lucy kept looking at them two and at Gajeel and Natsu and she nervously laughed, "Why am I more worried about these two fighting than Natsu and Gajeel?"

* * *

The two first battles had been slightly boring in a sense. Neither Fairy Tail team had been called. Erza had been looking forward to seeing Milliana fight, and the young woman had destroyed her competitor. For the second battle, seeing Rufus out on the field against Jenny from Blue Pegasus made Gray and Mira have dark looks on their faces, both remembering what had happened on the first day. That had definitely been the must unfair fight of the games. Jenny hadn't stood a chance against him.

However, the battle finally came when the pumpkin got on the field and called on Laxus against Alexei, from Raven Tail. His father's guild.

Aria gave him a nod before he left and he slightly returned it to one of his own. And just like that, he made himself to the field.

One the other balcony, as both competitors reached the field, Tessa looked thoughtfully at them, "It's like Alexei copied Laxus with the coat. Reminds me of a giant fuzzy muppet."

Natsu snorted, "This should be easy enough for him!"

Erza carefully shook her head, "I don't know. After all, it is his father's guild. So far Raven Tail has proven to be tough competitors."

Back with Team B, Gajeel noticed the look on Aria's face, "I'm surprised you're not cheering him on."

Aria swallowed, "Something feels… off."

Cana put a hand on her shoulder, "Girl, there's nothing to worry about. It's Laxus after all."

"The Master had a plan if anyone from Fairy Tail faced Ivan's guild," Mira quickly said, "They're going to be watching them carefully. They shouldn't be able to get away with any cheating like the first day."

But even their words wouldn't shake off the unsettling feeling at the pit of her stomach.

Once the match started and the first blow was exchanged, the entire audience gasped loudly.

Laxus was incapable of landing a blow. Alexei was smothering him on the field.

Team B were shouting loudly, hoping that their encouraging words would reach him. Even Gajeel was, which was slightly surprising since both him and Laxus still had a score to settle just before the Fantasia incident. Aria couldn't bring herself to say anything. The way Laxus was being thrown around and getting beaten was so unlike him.

 _He's a better fighter than this… something is wrong…  
_  
" **Laxus can't even get in a single blow through Alexei's raging attacks!** "

"COME ON LIGHTBULB! GET UP AND BEAT HIM!" Tessa cheered loudly alongside Natsu, who was finally getting over the shock of Laxus losing the fight.

"I never thought that was possible," Lucy commented as she watched the fight with worry, "Not after seeing him fight Hades…"

Erza shook her head, "It seems that his father did a well job on his guild. It's starting to feel like each member was carefully picked to fight us."

Wendy could only stare at the bloody arm Laxus was trying to hold on to, "He's bleeding so much…"

"I'm slightly more surprised that Aria hasn't thrown anything or said anything," Gray said with his arms crossed as he looked at Team B's balcony. Tessa stopped with her cheering and followed his gaze. Truth to his word, Aria was intensely watching the battle without moving.

* * *

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

Ivan glared at his son, "You do not need to feign ignorance with me. He must've told you where it is."

Laxus snorted as he narrowed his eyes, "Nope, not a clue."

Ivan could feel the hot fury developing in his being. He had a feeling his son was completely lying to him. He glared more harshly, but then his eyes moved up, up in the balcony of Team B where he could see Aria watching the fight with a thoughtful look on her face.

"She's rather beautiful son," Ivan said with a very casual tone, "It should be a shame if something were to happen to her."

Laxus muscles instantly tensed, "You wouldn't dare."

Ivan cackled, "Try me son! If you cannot tell me where it is, then I guess your loss will not only be an illusion, but also a reality." He motioned for his guild members to flank behind him, "Then we will go after her. She may not know, but just to make Makarov say something, we will go after her. Or better yet, return her to Jiemma."

Laxus raised his hand, "Come at me all of you then. Anyone that threatens my guild, that threatens _her_ , will have to go through me first."

Ivan laughed, "You really want us to? This team was specifically to destroy Fairy Tail."

"I know. The old man had you sussed out a long time ago. He knows everything."

Flare gasp, "Gajeel told him!"

"Enough!" Ivan yelled out, "If you do not want to say anything, we will beat it out of you and make Makarov talk!"

" _LAXUS GET UP!_ "

Laxus' eyes widened as he took in the desperate cry from Aria's voice. Just as Ivan attacked and sent Obra to eliminate his magic, he attacked.

* * *

There was something about the scream from Laxus that finally snapped Aria out of her trance. She had been trying to figure out what was off. But his scent was his. The blood she could smell was his and it was making her head go into a frenzy. The moment she saw him on the floor and Alexei stabbed him with his metal clawed hand and hearing him scream that she finally snapped out of it.

She was shaking with fury and she could feel that she wanted to cry by seeing his beaten form on the ground.

However, her golden eyes widened when a blue smoke started to appear, resembling dark shadows, and the form of a bleeding Laxus disappeared, and in his place, was Laxus in full health and standing over the five unconscious forms of Raven Tail.

"Laxus has a twin?!" Natsu cried out as his eyes were wide from their balcony. Tessa face palmed herself and Gray smacked him on the back of his head, "Don't be an idiot, it was an illusion!"

She rolled her eyes and looked at the field, "Well, I don't think you and Lucy have to worry about revenge anymore."

The pumpkin man ran to the field and gasped loudly as he stared at Alexei, "Alexei was Master Ivan all along!"

" **So! The Laxus v. Alexei match we were watching was just an illusion! And the one left standing on a 5 v. 1 match is LAXUS DREYAR! Fairy Tail wins the match but also, Raven Tail is disqualified of the games for breaching of the rules!** "

Aria instantly took off from the balcony. She ran through the corridors and down the stairs, until she finally found the tunnel where the competitors always walked through. She was half way down the tunnel when Laxus finally came in. He had a few scratches, but he was okay.

He raised his eyebrow as she got closer, "What's wrong—uff!"

He was barely able to catch himself from falling on his ass as she had jumped on him. She had her face buried on his neck, her arms tightly wrapped around him and her legs were anchored around his waist. His face softened and he wrapped his arms around her, "Did you doubt me?"

She pulled back, and that's when she realized her current position with him. She removed her legs and stood in front of him. She blushed slightly and cleared her throat as she glared at him, "The illusion was too real, ok? The whole time I felt that something was off. It wasn't until he stabbed you that I just almost lost it…"

His gaze softened and he put a hand on her cheek, "I'm okay."

She couldn't look away as he was leaning in closer. She could feel his hot breath over her lips, and just as he was grazing them with his own, they were interrupted.

"Laxus! Some Rune Knights want to speak with you!"

Laxus closed his eyes tight in frustration as a growl came out of him by his grandfather's interruption.

Aria couldn't have been more glad by the interruption, "Go. They probably want to take your testimony."

He rolled his eyes but he did as he was told. However, a small smile was on his face. He had almost kissed her and she hadn't pulled away.

 _Maybe I do still have a shot at her._

She stood in the tunnel by herself and she brought her fingers, which were shaking slightly, up to her lips.

 _Damn me and my feelings!_

* * *

The party at the Bar Sun was beyond loud and livable. It was nothing compared to their other parties nights prior. Everyone kept congratulating Cana, Erza, Laxus, and Wendy for their performances. Gajeel had immediately searched for Tessa the moment he got to the bar and he hadn't let the woman get away from him ever since then.

Wendy kept sighing however from her spot next to Tessa on chair, "I couldn't win though."

Tessa ruffled her hair as she leaned onto Gajeel, "You gave us 5 points and your match was incredible!"

"You surprised everyone," Lily chimed in from his spot on Tessa's shoulder. Gajeel kept eating his metal snacks and smirked at the girl, "Not bad kid. Makes me want to fight you."

Wendy instantly paled at the thought and Tessa turned around and glared at him, "Why don't you pick someone your own size? Don't be an ass to her."

He snorted, "Not afraid of you."

Tessa immediately removed herself from his side and stood, placing both of her hands on her hips, "Oh really? Are you challenging me?"

His red eyes flashed, "Are you?"

Tessa growled and her green eyes took a challenging look as she glared at her mate.

Cana laughed loudly from her spot at the bar, "Oi! Leave the foreplay at home!"

Wendy gulped as the tension kept increasing between the two mates. Carla saw the look on her face and couldn't help but ask, "Is everything alright?"

A snort from behind them made them turn around. Laxus could just amusedly watch the two of them, "If I'm right, it's a dragon thing. Females are supposed to submit to their males and all that."

Wendy swallowed, "I don't ever want to hit puberty."

"What a load of crap," Aria said as she walked up to them, "We all know that old school shit is out the window nowadays."

Gray smirked from his spot next to Lucy and decided to add more fuel to the fire, "So you don't think that Laxus can make you submit? I mean, although you guys only have lacrimas, they're still dragon ones. Wouldn't those instincts apply to you two as well?"

"But they're not together," Lucy cut in quickly, "I don't think it applies to them."

Mira thoughtfully tapped her chin, "I mean, if we think pack mentality here, the alpha makes anyone submit to them."

Elfman gaped at her sister, "So you think Laxus is their alpha?"

"It makes perfect sense," Mavis said suddenly, "Although he obtained his magic through the lacrima, it still has dragon instincts. _If_ my calculations are correct, Laxus here has the power to defeat each slayer in the room, hence making him the alpha. There's also the factors of his natural leadership and skills."

"What a load of bullshit," Laxus said with a wave of his hand, "Aria beat me during the training. Doesn't that make her alpha then?"

Bickslow laughed loudly from his spot at the table with the Thunder Legion with Cana on his lap, "I don't know man, that's not what you told me and Freed while we were training for three months."

Laxus smacked his head with his hand as he could feel Aria glaring at him, "The hell did you say Sparky?"

"Nothing. He's drunk."

Aria didn't drop it, as she stalked off towards the table and looked at Freed, "What did he say?"

The green haired man swallowed, and although he could feel Laxus staring at him, there was something about Aria's glare that had him shaking, "L-Laxus said that he only lost that one time to help your confidence…"

Aria's eyes widened and she whirled around and glared at him, "Are you fucking serious right now?"

"See? Perfect example that he's an alpha. Helping those in his pack to become stronger," Mavis chimed in happily in her child like voice.

Just then, Natsu interrupted the glaring matches as he rode on top of barrels and crashed onto the wall.

"Woah what's going on?!" he excitedly asked as he was looking at the four of them upside down.

Lucy sighed, "They're going to destroy the bar and this isn't even the guild…"

A yelling match then broke between the four of them. Laxus was trying to reason with Aria but she wasn't having it. Tessa kept throwing insults at her mate and he did as well. Eventually, it was Aria and Tessa on one side and Gajeel and Laxus in the other.

However, a drunk master got on top of a table and yelled out, "ALRIGHT! WHEN WE ARE BACK HOME AFTER WINNING THE GAMES A MATCH WILL BREAK OUT! OUR THREE FEMALE DRAGON SLAYERS V. OUR THREE MALE DRAGON SLAYERS!"

Wendy gasped, "What?! I wasn't even arguing with anyone!"

Carla shook her head, "That is just insane!"

"I think it's the perfect idea for all dragon slayers to fight," Erza commented, "They hardly have the chance to seriously get loose when we are back home."

Natsu jumped from his current position and laughed, "I'm all fired up now!"

But as he jumped to join in the glaring contest between the four seething slayers, he was sent flying by the four of them and crashing onto Gray.

Lucy shook her head, "The fight should be between those four."

Mira smiled widely, "I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun!"

Lisanna nodded excitedly, "I will help prepare everything with you sister!"

Evergreen shook her head, "So, who do we root for? Both of them are in our teams."

"Gosh Freed!" Bickslow yelled out with a laugh as he wrapped an arm around Cana who was laughing madly at the commotion, "Look what you caused by opening your mouth!"


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: I honestly think this is one of my favorite chapters that I've written. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it!

Chapter 30: Unleashed

Tessa and Aria ended up ignoring both males that were still trying to talk to them but the damage had been done. One thing about both girls is that they _never_ wanted to be seen less compared to a man and be categorized as weak.

To avoid them, they dragged Lucy, Levy, Juvia, and Erza for a small night of drinking. Nothing too crazy since they still had the fourth day of the competition the following day. Just something to relax and forget about killing the male species. They would have brought Cana along but the woman had been a little too busy with Bickslow.

Lucy had seen Tessa slightly drunk before. The woman was more affectionate and downright hilarious. However, seeing Aria in that state was more comical. Her affection was over the top. It reminded her of a combination of herself and Erza.

Tessa bought a round for everyone that Aria gave her a look, "Where did you get that much money?"

Tessa smirked as she flicked her hair, "Gajeel should pay more attention to when I hug him."

The women laughed out loud at that.

It was an incredible night of fun for them. They talked about anything and everything. Erza ended up opening up to everyone about her deep feelings for Jellal and wishing things had been different for them. Levy voiced her small crush on Freed which Aria right away went on a monologue on how they would be perfect for each other. Juvia kept talking about Gray, which was nothing new since the woman made it obvious since day one she wanted something with him. It wasn't until the third round that Lucy finally spilled the beans about her feelings for Natsu. Specially after the night he had gone on a rampage on Sabertooth. However what was holding her back was that she had a suspicion that Lisanna still held feelings for him.

"I mean I get it, but at the same time you shouldn't be sacrificing your own happiness," Aria commented as she sipped her drink.

"Natsu is the only one that can make that decision. Don't divert him from you. He may be dense but he's not _that_ stupid." Tessa added in with a smile.

"Juvia has seen love rival interact with Natsu and him interacting with Lisanna. Love rival has better shot with Natsu."

Aria laughed, "Why do you keep calling her love rival then?"

Juvia blushed but didn't say. Erza chuckled and looked at Lucy, "I think you're exactly what Natsu needs."

"I agree with Erza!" Levy exclaimed happily.

Lucy smiled but her big chocolate brown eyes landed on Aria, "So what about you and Laxus? We all thought you guys would be together by now. Specially after spending three months together."

Aria sighed, "It's complicated."

"Are you still hanging on to what happened?" Erza asked her.

Aria couldn't answer because the more and more time she kept spending time with him, the excuses of not being with him were slipping away.

By the end of the night, Tessa had her arms wrapped around Erza and Levy while Aria had a hold of Juvia and Lucy. They paid no mind to anyone that was watching them.

The bonding they had that night was a night that they would never forget. Even on their most horrific times like the fourth day of the games.

* * *

"They said 'Naval' that definitely has to do with water," Laxus said as his team discussed the plan, "Juvia is the best we have for that."

Aria had her hands behind her head, "I agree. There's no way we can lose."

Juvia nodded, "Juvia is determined to win. I will not let you down!"

The water mage went to change while the rest of them returned to the balcony to watch the Fourth Day's event. The sun was bright, making Aria thankful that she was wearing a white tank top with her black shorts and boots. It would keep her cool somewhat.

The rules of the event were simple. The Naval Battle consisted of a giant sphere of water. If a competitor were to leave the water sphere, they were automatically disqualified. The only one standing inside the sphere at the end is the winner. However, if two competitors are still in the water, a special rule goes into effect. The five minute rule declares that in the period of five minutes the first one that goes out of the sphere is ranked last.

One by one they watched the competitors go inside the sphere, but Aria's and Tessa's eyes widened when Minerva went in.

"Son of a bitch…" she hissed as she saw her cousin moving swiftly inside the water to prepare.

The battle unfolded and both Lucy and Juvia were doing magnificent. Aria found herself cheering for both of them. She couldn't just cheer for Juvia. Lucy was trying to redeem herself for what happened on the first day and she had become close to her. That's why she was rooting for her as well. Juvia unleashed an attack that was named after Gray and removed three competitors from the sphere. However the celebration was cut short when Juvia was suddenly out of the arena.

"What?!" Gajeel exclaimed as he slammed his hands on the balcony.

Mira was beyond confused, "But how?"

Aria glared, "Minerva's magic. Territorial."

" **There's two competitors left! Who would come out victorious? Sabertooth or Fairy Tail? Now, the five minute clock starts!"**

However, it was Tessa that noticed right away the horrible disadvantage.

"This is not good. I have a horrible feeling about this," She said to her team.

But Natsu wasn't having it, "Let's go Lucy!"

Minerva attacked, Lucy becoming her personal punching bag. It wasn't until Minerva took away her keys that Aria started shaking in fury.

"They need to stop it! She can't use her magic without her keys!"

But through each horrible wound inflicted, Lucy wasn't giving up. She was taking it, letting the clock run down so she could obtain the points for her team, for her guild.

"Learn your place!" Minerva's voice echoed as she charged a powerful attack, "Fairy Tail will continue to be nothing! SABERTOOTH WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE GREATEST GUILD IN THE WORLD!"

She attacked and all they could hear was Lucy's heart wrenching scream. It was horrifying, multiple expectators screaming in horror by the battered look of the celestial mage. Lucy was almost at the edge of the sphere when she vanished and appeared in front of Minerva again, delivering a painful kick on her back.

"She's doing that just to make her suffer?!" Gajeel growled as his lip was turned up into a snarl.

"The fight was already over!" Laxus angrily cried out.

Mira was covering her mouth in horror as tears were threatening to fall.

Aria could hear the loud screams of Natsu and Tessa as they begged for the fight to be stopped.

Minerva laughed loudly as the match was called off and she had Lucy by the neck outside of the sphere. Her eyes landed on Team B's balcony and made eye contact with Aria.

"This is what happens when someone messes with Sabertooth."

Lucy wasn't moving and she was discarded like if she was nothing. Gray and Natsu hopped over their balcony to catch her, Tessa not far behind. Various screams of orders were being thrown out, asking for healers. She saw Wendy and Sherria rushing to the field to help her.

It wasn't until she heard Minerva laugh again that she _snapped_.

Her magic exploded around her, knocking back Gajeel, Laxus and Mira. The thunder echoed loudly and she teleported, landing right in front of Erza as she had stopped Natsu and Gray from attacking Minerva. Tessa had Lucy's head on her lap as Wendy and Sherria started to heal her.

Her sudden arrival knocked a few people down immediately. Erza gasped, but as she reached to grab her, she pulled back with a hiss. The electrical surge coming out of Aria had burned her.

Laxus snapped out of his shock and transformed into lightning the moment he saw her magic creating a ball to attack Minerva. He collided onto Aria, sending both of them flying several yards as the attack exploded.

However Aria wasn't giving up, she kicked him away and she tried taking off after Minerva, who stood behind the Sabertooth Team when Laxus slammed her onto the wall, putting his forearm on her neck.

Her strength was incredible. He had never had to use as much physical strength with her until now. What was making him more nervous is that her eyes kept switching from gold to blue. They were feral.

"Snap out of it!" He yelled at her, "I know you're angry but Lucy fucking needs you right now!"

Tessa ran to them, since the healers had taken Lucy away, "Please Aria! Stop!"

It wasn't until she stopped trembling that Laxus let her go. She was still beyond angry but she knew she needed to see Lucy.

* * *

It took her a couple more minutes to cool down, but when she finally did, she followed them to the infirmary. Gajeel and Mira were already there alongside all of Team A. She was the last to come in after Tessa and all eyes were on her.

She swallowed as she took in the mage's bandaged form. The entire infirmary reeked of her blood although her life was not in danger anymore. She walked up to Lucy's bed, the woman barely conscious as she looked at her.

"A-Aria?"

Aria was shaking as she kneeled down and grabbed the mage's hand on hers, "I'm so sorry Lucy. This is _my_ fault. It's because of me that she did this to you."

Besides Laxus and Tessa, no one had ever heard Aria sound so vulnerable until then.

Just then, the door was opened and Makarov came in. The look on his face was serious as he looked around, "Ok good. Both teams are here."

"What's going on?" Laxus asked his grandfather.

"I don't know if this is good or bad news. But we have received orders from the backers of the games that we must combine one Fairy Tail team."

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"With Raven Tail disqualified and seven teams, it's becoming harder to do the battle selections. However, this new Fairy Tail team will obtain Team A's points."

"It at least gives us the opportunity to create even a stronger team," Mira said quickly.

"You all must be careful on who you select. Today it's tag team battles and tomorrow is a day off. After that, the final day will require all members." Porlyusica said seriously.

Makarov crossed his arms as he waited to hear what they had to say.

"Well I'm avenging Lucy!" Natsu quickly said, "There's no one stopping me from doing so."

Tessa looked around the room, "Gajeel and Laxus should be in it too. That's already three dragon slayers."

"I'll go as well," Erza said seriously. Her gaze then fell on Aria, who had removed herself from Lucy's bed and was standing in front of the window overlooking the city.

She walked up to her, "There's no one else in this room that has the right to face Sabertooth as much as you do. Will you join us to avenge Lucy and to bring back the title of Fairy Tail being number one?"

Aria didn't say anything or turned around. Tessa became angry and stomped to her. She turned her around and slapped her.

"Stop with the guilt! You moping around what happened to her isn't going to do anything!" She cried out angrily, "If anyone in this guild can take down Minerva is _you_. If anyone has a score to settle against Jiemma is _you_. This is your opportunity Aria! Snap out of the pity fucking party and go out there and do everyone proud! _Do your family proud!"_

Aria was staring at her wide eyes in shock and her eyes moved to the others that were waiting for her to say something.

"Alright. I'll do it."

* * *

" **And now! The newly formed Fairy Tail team should be coming out in any second!"**

"They got this on the bag," Tessa said as she joined everyone of the guild at their balcony, "They ain't losing."

"You did the right call by suggesting them to the Master," Mira commented as she smiled down, waiting for them to appear.

"Juvia knows they will come out victorious. Isn't that right Gray my love?"

Gray crossed his arms, "As much as I would've wanted to be down there with them, Aria deserves it a lot more than I do."

" **THE ENTIRE STADIUM IS SHAKING! RIGHT HERE AND NOW FAIRY TAIL HAS ARRIVED!"**

" **LISTEN TO THE CROWD! THOSE CHEERS ARE MAKING THE BOOING OF THE FIRST DAY AS A DISTANT MEMORY! IN JUST FOUR DAYS THEY HAVE REGAINED THEIR POPULARITY!"**

The five of them stood proud as the crowds cheered. Natsu was in the middle while on his left was Aria and Laxus and on his right Erza and Gajeel.

Gone were the matching outfits as the five of them stood with their own clothes, the clothes that represented them. Aria was wearing a black leather crop top, most of her chest and midriff exposed. Her cargo pants were a dark green, almost black. Her bangs were out of her face for the first time, her entire hair pulled back on a tight high ponytail. On each arm she wore a series of metal arm cuffs, Gajeel's idea. Her golden eyes were seething in anger as they clashed with Minerva's.

The woman wore a smirk as she looked at her, "It seems someone wants to play with fangs."

* * *

The tag team battles set forth the second half of the fourth day. Blue Pegasus' Ichiya and the Rabbit went against Quatro Cerberus' Bacchus and Rocker.

It had been a… very interesting and disturbing fight to see. Nichiya, exceed Captain from Edolas, was the rabbit the whole time.

Aria thought Erza was about to have a heart attack seeing practically two Ichiyas out on the field.

Blue Pegasus won thanks to Ichiya.

Laxus blinked several times, "What the fuck did I just watch?"

Aria had a similar facial expression, "I would like to know that too."

Erza shivered, "Just don't let those two near me. One is already bad enough."

Gajeel had a look of disgust at Ichiya's oversized muscles while wearing a small piece of underwear, "I don't think I can ever unsee that."

The second battle between Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel proved to be more interesting, however the thirty minutes went by and a draw was called.

" **NOW IN FIFTEEN MINUTES THE BATTLE EVERYONE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR WILL BEGIN! STING AND ROGUE FROM SABERTOOTH WILL FACE OFF NATSU AND ARIA FROM FAIRY TAIL!"**

Aria blinked at the announcement, "Say what?!"

Erza smirked, "You weren't expecting that?"

The woman shook her head, "Nope. I thought I was going to participate on the last day."

Laxus crossed his arms, "It's a good thing you were called instead of me or Gajeel to be Natsu's partner. I know damn well Natsu will get carried away and pick a fight with one of us."

Natsu's eyes widened, "That's not true!"

Gajeel gave him a look, "Are you sure you flame breath idiot?"

Natsu's eyes went immediately towards his, "WHAT DID YOU SAY—"

"See? Point proven." Gajeel said as he looked at Aria and crossed his arms.

"Besides," Erza added in, "You and Natsu have a natural dynamic. Remember the fight with Hades. You'll be fine. You'll beat them."

Natsu smirked as he gave the woman thumbs up, "We got this! Now let's go. I want to see Lucy really quick before the fight starts."

* * *

She stood outside the infirmary as Natsu was inside with Lucy. She didn't want to be in the middle of their moment and insisted that he should see her by himself. She decided to stretch her arms and breathe deeply since nerves were starting to form. Footsteps echoed in the hallway and she saw Laxus walking up to her.

She stopped as she looked at him, "What are you doing here?"

He leaned against the wall next to her, "Just thought I would see you before the fight. How are you feeling?"

She sighed, "I'm going against two third generation dragon slayers. Peachy you could say."

She suddenly felt his hands on her shoulders, making her gasp at the sudden movement. His eyes took a darker hue as he seriously stare into hers.

"Get that shit out of your head right now. If not you _will_ lose. You are just as good as they are. So what that you didn't grow up with a dragon? That doesn't change anything about your strength. If Tessa heard you right now, she would beat the shit out of you. You _are_ a dragon slayer. The rage you felt earlier, use it."

She breathed in slowly and nodded, "Alright."

He leaned in, placing his hand on the back of her neck and kissed her forehead, leaving her in shock.

"Laxus—"

"Stop. After the games we'll talk."

And just before she could answer, Natsu came out.

He didn't even question seeing the two of them so close to each other. He looked at Aria and grinned, "Let's show them what we got."

* * *

"When the hell did you make that?" Jet asked as he skeptically looked at the banner Tessa was holding. The writing and decorations were extremely neat and vivid.

"When I went to the bathroom. Wendy helped me," the woman replied as she winked at Wendy, "We have to show our support!"

Droy looked down at the arena as both Sting and Rogue were already standing there, "You think she has a chance against them? It's not like she's really a dr—"

He stopped as a glass knife was an inch away from his eyeball.

"I know for a _fact_ you wouldn't say that if it was Laxus on the field," she hissed at him, "So save your stupid comments to yourself," she stopped for a second as she looked at his nachos, "And I'm taking those."

Bickslow laughed loudly, "That's one thing you _never_ do man. You want to talk shit about either Aria or Tessa, expect one of them to be on your ass."

"They're coming out to the field!" Levy yelled to them excitedly. Tessa made her way to the front and started to cheer, the Thunder Legion right behind her helping her with the banner.

"LET'S GO ARIA!"

* * *

" **NOW FOR THE THIRD AND FINAL TAG BATTLE OF THE DAY! STING AND ROGUE VERSUS NATSU AND ARIA!"**

" **WILL THE WINNERS BE THE TIGERS OR THE FAIRIES?! WE HAVE UNLEASHED FOUR DRAGONS ONTO THE FIELD!"**

Sting snorted, "I wouldn't call _her_ a dragon," he said to Rogue but loud enough for everyone to hear him through the camera.

"I was expecting to fight Gajeel," Rogue replied with a bored tone on his voice.

Laxus smirked from his spot, _That's right. Make her angry._

" **LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!"**

The gong sounded off and just before Sting could say something to Rogue, Aria was immediately on his face while Natsu was in front of Rogue.

Their eyes widened in shock as both Natsu and Aria landed a clean hit on each of them, sending them flying onto the ground. The audience gasped loudly at the sudden action. Both Natsu and Aria moved in sync and she rolled on the ground and landed a kick onto Rogue while Natsu punched Sting this time.

" **LOOK AT THAT SYNCHRONIZATION!"**

Sting became annoyed and took a deep breath, " _White Dragon Roar!"_

Natsu dodged it, but Sting was capable of moving the roar like a laser. Aria had just ducked one of Rogue's shadow attacks when the roar was coming at her. She let out a loud snarl as she raised her fist, " _THUNDER DRAGON IRON FIST!"_

Her fist clashed with his roar. A huge explosion occurred but as the smoke cleared out, Aria was standing with a smirk on her face, completely unscathed. Her attack cancelled out his own.

His eyes widened when she suddenly flipped her body and kicked Rogue at his direction. Natsu came from the air then, with an attack of his own.

" _Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"_

Half of the audience gasped and the others cheered. The Fairy Tail balcony were losing their minds at how well Natsu and Aria were working together.

" **UNBELIEVABLE! THE TWIN DRAGONS ARE GETTING PUSHED BACK!"**

Aria placed a hand on her hip, "So what was it that you said before Sting?"

The mage got up, a smirk on his face as he wiped blood from his mouth, "Not going to lie. That was impressive and kind of sexy."

She glared.

Natsu looked at them confused, "If this is your power I don't understand how you took down your dragons."

Rogue slightly glared, "We didn't take them down."

"We kill them," Sting simply added in.

Up on the stands, Tessa and Wendy were horrified at that. Just thinking of harming Uzume was making her chest feel tight. That dragon had been her mother for many years. She owed everything to her.

Suddenly, the auras around both twin dragons emerged, one white and one black. Aria and Natsu could feel their magic energy increasing as well.

"Let us show you the power that killed our dragons," Sting said as he raised his hands, " _White Drive._ "

Rogue glared, " _Shadow Drive._ "

"A power increase spell?" Mavis said out loud as white and black markings appeared in their bodies.

Laxus growled in frustration, "It seems that the kids weren't going to go down so easily."

Gajeel grunted but didn't say anything.

Sting and Rogue moved like a blur, attacking both of them. Sting landed a loud hit on Natsu who cried out.

"Natsu!" Aria screamed as she tried going to him, but Rogue got in her way. He kept moving swiftly in his shadow form around her, giving her a hard time for her to land a hit but he was successfully landing various on her.

She grunted as she raised her arms to defend herself. He kicked her, sending her hurling through the air. That's when she saw Sting putting a stigmata on Natsu, preventing him from moving.

" _Close your eyes and use your instincts! I've told you before to listen to your inner dragon!" Laxus roared at her as he moved around her, "It's like you take one step forward and two back! Pathetic!"_

 _She whirled around as she tried hitting him but she kept failing. It wasn't until she finally closed her eyes and seeked out that part of her that she finally got him on the stomach._

 _He grunted but gave her a small smirk, " Now we are going somewhere. Again!"_

She let Rogue hit her three more times as she had her eyes closed when she finally felt him. Just as he was reaching with a fist to hit her through his shadow, an electrical whip came out of her hand and wrapped it around his hand.

His red eyes widened, "What—"

She screamed as she tugged him out of the shadow completely and kicked him, sending him onto Natsu who had been successful on burning off the stigmata from his body. He grabbed Rogue by the face and slammed him onto a shocked Sting.

Sting got up furious, his eyes seething in anger, "I WILL NOT LOSE TO SOMEONE WHO IS AN IMITATION OF A DRAGON SLAYER! _**HOLY NOVA!"**_

Just before Aria could move, she saw the blur of pink hair running towards Sting. The explosion was humongous, the white light spreading through the whole stadium. However once it cleared, Natsu was holding on to Sting's fist.

" **HE—HE BLOCKED IT!"**

Rogue took the opportunity to lunge at Natsu as he was still hanging on to Sting's fist. Aria moved then, and with an airborne roundhouse kick, she sent the black haired slayer to the ground, thunder echoing as she made contact.

Natsu's hold on Sting tightened, "She's just as much of a dragon slayer as you are."

And with a fire covered fist, he punched Sting, making him land harshly next to Rogue.

The crowd lost it with its cheers. Makarov couldn't believe it. He knew Natsu had potential, but the fact that Aria was in par with the twin slayers just said volumes on how strong she was.

Gajeel turned to Laxus who had a proud smirk on his face, "You trained her well."

"She always had it in her."

" **I HAVE TO SAY THAT I'M SHOCKED! I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS TURN OF EVENTS! THEY CAN HARDLY LAND A PUNCH ON FAIRY TAIL!"**

Sting stood up shaking, "No… this is not going to end like this!"

Both her and Natsu had to raise their arms as auras of magic exploded from them. When they brought their arms down, their eyes widened as they took in the forms of the twins. No longer was the white or black in their bodies like paint.

Instead, there were black and white scales.

"Dragon Force?!" Mavis gasped out loudly.

Levy's eyes widened, "They can activate dragon force at will?!"

"That is insane!" Tessa exclaimed. She had only done it a handful of times and those times it had been difficult. She knew how much concentration it was needed to reach a dragon slayer's ultimate form. But _both_ of them activated it. With a snap of their fingers they were in their dragon force.

"That's the technique Natsu used on The Tower of Heaven!" Erza exclaimed as she leaned over to get a closer look.

Gajeel grunted, "Natsu told me he also did it during the Nirvana incident when Jellal gave him some of his power. These fucking kids just activated it at will."

"Aria almost activated it during Fantasia," he said as his voice was low, "But it never fully activated. This is fucking insane."

Sting cockily looked at both of his opponents and then Rogue, "Stay back. I'm finishing this."

" **STING JUST CALLED OUT BOTH OF THEM!"**

Aria growled as she lowered herself ready to pounce, "Cocky ass bastard."

Natsu looked at Sting seriously, "You feel it though right? He's strong."

And within a second, Sting was upon them. He attacked Natsu first and just as the fire dragon slammed onto the floor, he moved on to Aria. She cried out a couple of times as he got her when he suddenly grabbed her by the throat and slammed her onto the ground. He jumped into the air and he inhaled.

" _White Dragon Holy Breath!"_

The entire arena was engulfed by the white light and everyone heard the ground cracking as a giant crater of hundreds of feet was created due to the explosion of the attack. The lacrima cameras caught the sight of both Natsu and Aria falling into the gaping hole.

"ARIA!" Both Laxus and Tessa screamed from their spots.

As they were falling, Aria used her speed to move up on each piece of rubble that was falling as Natsu retaliated. Just as Natsu made a hit, Aria flipped her body and used a bigger piece of concrete as a trampoline, jumping downwards and getting a hold of Sting. As she got a hold of him, her thunder covered her completely as she twirled around towards the ground.

" _Thunder Dragon Spiral Wave!"_

The blue electricity increased which made him scream in agony, but just as Sting was about to make contact on to the ground because of her, he was able to flip them so now he was the one in control. Her eyes widened but she couldn't do anything as she crashed onto the ground. He flipped away from her and quickly attacked Natsu who was coming at him again.

He sent him crashing to the ground next to Aria who hadn't gotten up yet.

" **IS THIS IT?!"**

"They can't beat them?!" Wakaba exclaimed loudly.

Tessa was in near tears, "ARIA GET UP!"

"Natsu…" Happy said worriedly.

Laxus slammed both of his hands on the balcony as he leaned over, "GET UP! BOTH OF YOU!"

Sting looked at their still forms and smiled softly, "That was actually hell of a lot better than I thought. They were wrong about you Aria and I retract my previous statement. You're indeed a dragon slayer."

A soft laugh was then heard, coming from Aria who slowly brought herself in a sitting position as Natsu started to get up.

As she finally stood, she cracked her neck and looked at him, "Of course they were wrong. _He_ didn't have the power to train me. Someone else did and that's why I'm still going to fight."

"How can you still get up?" Rogue asked as he landed next to Sting, "Dragon Force is the ultimate form of a dragon slayer. You should be unconscious!"

"That may be the power you used to kill your dragons," Natsu said seriously, "But _we_ have the power of our guild with us. Of our family. It's enough to defeat both of you."

He looked back at Aria, "Stand down. I got this."

Laxus face palmed himself from the balcony.

Aria's eye twitched as Sting lunged forward in rage, "YOU WILL NOT MOCK ME!"

Aria was furious by Natsu's comment, so she sprinted and met Sting's fist in mid air with her own before he could attack Natsu. White clashed with blue and she screamed as she pushed Sting back. She flipped again and glared at Natsu.

"I'm the last person you want to pull that shit with pyro. We are finishing this as a team."

Natsu gulped, "Ok fine!" his eyes fell on Rogue and grinned, "Let's dance!"

He lunged at the shadow mage immediately.

Sting was on her within a second and she was prepared. She used her magic to speed up her attacks and her reflexes were becoming faster as Sting threw various combos of kicks and punches at hers, but it's like she knew what he was going to do. Because that's what Laxus taught her. Pay attention to your enemies, their breathing, their shift of their bodies. That's how she knew several times what Sting was going to do. There was a moment that he got behind her and grabbed her ponytail. She cried out but then flipped to wrap her legs around his head and brought him down with brutal force. She didn't give him an opportunity to retaliate as she was on the floor, she got on her back and twirled her legs like a helicopter, sending him crashing onto Rogue who was barely getting up from the floor.

Natsu made his way to her and grinned as they waited for the twin dragons to attack. Both of them pulled their arm back and a wave of their magic came out, becoming one large force of light and shadow.

"A unison raid!?" Wendy and Tessa cried out.

" _DIVINE SHADOW DRAGON WHITE FANG!"_

Aria's eyes flickered again from gold to blue and she moved her hands in a circular motion and then raised them above her head while Natsu brought his palms back.

" _DRAGON SLAYER ULTIMATE ATTACK!"_

The sky was covered in clouds and a shot of lightning shot out landing on her form as the thunder rumbled.

They both shot their hands forward.

" _SUPERCELL RAGING TORNADO!"_

" _BLAZING FLASHOVER BLADE!"_

The blue collided with the red, creating a powerful storm of purple magic that whirled towards their attack. The explosion was overwhelming, shaking even the city of Crocus.

The rumble fell and the audience was anticipating in a hushed silence for the smoke to clear. Finally, both bodies of the twin dragons were seen on the lacrima screens fall.

" **THIS IS IT FOLKS! FAIRY TAIL TAKES THE WIN!"**

Aria fell to her knees as she couldn't believe it. Natsu cried out in victory and immediately picked her up and twirled her, "We won!"

She smiled, but as her gaze fell on the defeated dragons, she couldn't help but worry about their safety.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Uncomfortable

The moment her and Natsu made their way through the tunnel after their victory with the twin dragons, they were both bombarded by their team and some of the guild members. Laxus was smirking as his team tackled her, all of them shouting over the other by how proud and impressed were by her. Tessa wasn't far behind, pushing herself in to hold on to her best friend, her sister.

They messed her hair and she could barely make out what they were saying through their exciting shouting. She was so tired, but she couldn't let them down, and she continued to laugh and smile with them.

She had just proved the whole world how powerful she was. She proved to Jiemma that she wasn't the same poor little girl that would take the abuse because she was weak.

Tessa taught her as much as she could, but she knew exactly who was responsible to help her even more so. Through all the hugs and excitement, their eyes met. He held her gaze and her smile widened. The way she was looking at him could only say one thing:

 _Thank you..._

He swallowed, because looking at her now, in her own moment of glory, he fell for her more.

The partying and drinking had been heavily intense that night. The guild now stood as number one in the competition and their fan base grew as well. Out on the streets, vendors were making more money off of the Fairy Tail merchandise they started to sell. Bets were being made all over the bars, and whenever they were seen out in public, people would cheer for them.

However, Carla had a vision when she had first awoken from the attack her and Wendy suffered. The castle falling and Lucy 'singing' in it. But a new vision had plagued her mind. A cave at the bottom filled with skeletons that were eerily familiar to dragons. When Sting had destroyed the arena and the crater was created, everything made more sense to her. She could feel the vision coming to life when Natsu and Aria were falling down the pit hole. The moment she had brought it up to Wendy during the celebration, the young girl had told Natsu and Gajeel. The two slayers were set on exploring the crater. Panther Lily had volunteered to explore it first, making sure that it wasn't fixed yet, and for their luck it hadn't been. Guiajeel mentioned it to Tessa and she had decided to join them as well.

It wasn't every day that they would try to make sense of a vision the exceed had.

But although the curiosity was lingering in the back of her head, Aria had refused to go.

Tessa only figured that the woman was tired. So off they went to explore. It's not like they had to be back at a certain time or get up early. The following day was supposed to be an off day for everyone.

When they arrived at the outside of the arena, they had to be very careful to not be caught by the soldiers that were standing outside. That's when they realized that Lucy and Gray had followed them. Natsu couldn't pick a fight with Gray however, since that would jeopardize them getting noticed. Thanks to the three exceeds, they were successful to fly over without being noticed. They flew them down, all the way to the bottom where Natsu and Aria had fought. In occasions, he kept making remarks of the successful fight he had, but both Gajeel and Gray would shut it down.

It took them a lot longer than they thought to climb down, but when they did, Tessa felt a shiver go down her spine as she looked at all the dragon bones in the dark cave. She zipped her jacket close and crossed her arms, hugging her body in hopes that the sudden coldness she felt would go away.

It was like a graveyard.

"Well this proves they existed," Lily said with a weary look on his face. Happy was beyond terrified so he kept close to Carla who he felt he was protecting.

"One thing that doesn't make sense to me is," the white exceed started to say as her eyes swept around the cave, "Why did those two come?"

Lucy laughed nervously and Gray grunted, "Well we were curious too."

Gajeel completely ignored them as he looked around, "Our dragons disappeared fourteen years ago. These bones… they've been here for a lot longer."

Tessa placed a hand on her chest as she took a big breath. That was her biggest fear. That her mother was in the graveyard they were standing on. The bones were huge and she had a huge feeling some of them had been bigger than Uzume.

She walked up to Gajeel and placed a hand on his arm. Without a word, he placed his larger hand over hers as they continued to walk through the dragon graveyard. It felt so wrong seeing so many bones of one of the most powerful creatures to have ever walked on Earthland. He had felt concerned at first, whether he wanted to admit it or not, if Metallicana could be here. But thankfully that wasn't the case.

But his own personal question was echoing on the other slayers here.

"Who or what killed so many?" Tessa's soft whisper seemed to echo from the cold walls.

Wendy's eyes suddenly were filled with an idea, "I think I can use the spell Milky Way to speak to the dragons!"

* * *

She was having a lot of fun. She really was. She found herself taking a few shots with Cana for good measure and talked to almost everyone of the guild.

But she needed some time alone.

It had been difficult but she had been successful enough to sneak out of the partying. She wasn't sure where she was going. She just knew she needed to be alone.

Her mind was going all over the place. She felt beyond proud of herself. She had never felt this way before. It was a new rush and she loved it. She knew she had been underestimated, but she had made anyone that had doubted her swallow their words. Specially Jiemma. Oh— she had felt that glare on the back of her head when she had left the field. From both him _and_ Minerva. And that's exactly what she wanted. She wanted them to see that she was to not be taken lightly.

She walked through various of the streets when she suddenly heard arguing through one of the alleys she was approaching. A familiar scent caught her interest and she made her way over, peeking slightly to see.

It was Sting and he was surrounded by five men. All of them seemed intoxicated, but it seemed the five of them were taunting him. Her eyebrows came close together in confusion on why he would be in the dark alley so late at night.

A man with a bald spot on his head spat by Sting's feet, "You're a sad excuse of a fighter!"

"We lost a bet cause of you!" Another one shouted as he shoved him, the slurring quite evident in his shouting.

"Yeah, now we owe a lot of money because of you," the third one said with a sneer.

Sting grunted as he swayed, his glare trying to intimidate them, "That's not my fault."

Her eyes widened by the sound of his voice. He was extremely drunk.

She saw one of the men raise his fist and she almost jumped in when Sting, although drunk, discarded him like if he was nothing. Then the other four jumped in and he was having difficulties. She ran up and caught one of the men in an uppercut, then the next one she grabbed his arm and flung him over her shoulder.

One of them was going to punch her in the back but when she turned around he froze.

"T-That's the thunder slayer from Fairy Tail!"

And just like that, they scrambled away. Her lip lift in slight disgust as they ran out of the alley. As they left, she turned to look at him, but Sting wouldn't even look at her. She waited for a few moments to see if he would say anything, but he didn't. He started walking away and just as she was leaving in the opposite direction, she heard him crashing pitifully into the trash cans that were there.

She sighed exasperatedly, _Goddammit_. She turned around and put her hair up in a messy bun.

She went up to him, lowering herself as she grabbed his arm and put it over her shoulder and that's when she took notice some of the bandages he wore from their fight. From the unbuttoned short sleeved shirt he wore, he had bandages wrapped around and she could see the blood started to ooze out.

Her eyes widened slightly, _That wasn't because of me or Natsu._

His eyes were red around the edges as he looked at her face, "You don't have to pretend to care," His words were slurred and she had to pull back a bit since his breath reeked of alcohol, "You have humiliated me enough…"

She didn't say anything about that as she pulled him up, "Alright let's take you back to yo—"

"Don't. I don't want to go back there. Not tonight."

She turned her head to him, and besides the redness his eyes possessed, she could see something deeper in them. They stared at each other for a moment before she sighed in irritation and looked away as she started to walk.

"Fine. We'll go somewhere else to get you sober and cleaned up and you can tell me what happened."

He didn't say anything as she led him away. She mentally sighed.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

Tessa's green eyes were wide as Wendy's spell worked. It had taken a bit for the young girl to create the spell on the ground but when she did and she called out the spell, the room had illuminated and the bones started to rumble. Wendy glowed beautifully and an unknown source of wind started to make her hair move. As she focused her magic more, everything around them glowed an eerie green.

It was incredible because suddenly, a soul reacted to Wendy's calls.

It was huge, with dark and green scales. Its head reminded her of a block due to its size. The fangs were just as tall as Gajeel.

And when it roared, she screamed with the rest. It was so powerful and small flashbacks of Acnologia came into her mind.

However when it started to laugh and commenting how startling humans was one of his favorite pastimes, Tessa got mad.

"Listen you lousy—"

The rest of her insults were muffled by Gajeel putting a hand over her mouth and waist.

After introducing himself, Zirconis continued being a prankster, making everyone give him beliwerdment looks.

"I don't understand how a dragon ghost could be like this," Gajeel muttered under his breath after letting her go.

"So what happened here?" Tessa asked the spirit.

He looked at her and scoffed, "Please. I don't answer to humans."

Happy walked forward with a paw raised, "I'm a cat!"

Zirconis scratched his chin, "It was about four hundred years ago…"

Tessa's eyes widened, _Stupid lizard!_

And he went on to tell them the tale of the battle that occurred four hundred years back. Dragons had lived in prosperity, but there was a dragon that believed they should coexist with humans, thus creating the war between those that opposed to him and sided with him. There had been no winner, however, said dragon gave upon humans the magic to slay dragons and fought alongside them.

Tessa's eyes widened, "Dragon slayers…"

"That's the origin of the dragon slayers?" Lucy asked the spirit.

"The battle continued on with now with them in battle. It was just a matter of time that they would win. However, there was a miscalculation. The magic given to the slayers was too much and they even started to slay the dragons that were their allies. Amongst those humans, there was one that bathed in too much dragon blood," his eyes turned sad at the distant memory, "I shudder by just saying his name. He continued to murder more and more. Eventually, his skin turned into scales, his teeth into fangs, and his body changed into that of a dragon's."

All of their eyes widened in horror. Was that possible? Lucy was now shaking in fear, "A man turned into a dragon?"

Zirconis nodded and his eyes took in the skeletons that were laying in the cave, "All those dragons here were slayed by that man. Turning into a dragon was the end of the path of dragon slayer magic. Although he was human he became the Dragon King. That battle, four hundred years ago, gave birth to him. It was known as the Dragon King Festival."

Natsu stepped forward, "What was his name?"

Zirconis shut its eyes as memories of the horror flashed through his head as he replied, "The Wings of Darkness. A dragon, but not a dragon. Acnologia."

Tessa felt her heart drop to her stomach and gasped as Gajeel put a protective arm around her.

* * *

As Aria carefully walked around the streets, she started to go over her options. A lot of the inns she had gone to were all booked. She couldn't take Sting into the same inn as her and the rest, so she opted out with the inn that was next door and thankfully they had one room available for the night. It had been a struggle going up the stairs with a drunk slayer by her side, especially when it came to opening the door. Once she went in, she quickly took him to the bed for him to lay down. However since he currently didn't have the greatest balance, he bumped onto the bed and both of them ended falling on it.

Him right on top of her.

Her eyes widened in alarm and her cheeks reddened since their noses were touching. She quickly shoved him away. She didn't look back to see him as she left the room and went back to her room at the other inn. She carefully walked the halls, in hopes she wouldn't come across anyone. Or more specifically, Laxus. She went inside the room and she sighed in relief when she saw both girls passed out. Surprisingly, both reeked of alcohol. She grabbed various items, shoved them in a bag, and with that, she had rushed out to the other inn.

Not soon after she got back, the room service she had ordered before she left the inn had gotten there. She quickly poured the glass of water and gave it to Sting who was still extremely red on the face. However the man had drank the water too fast and his face was turning green.

She quickly helped him up and took him to the bathroom with just enough time for him to puke everything out in the toilet.

As he emptied his stomach, she turned the knob on the sink and wet one of the towels. She went to him again and placed it on his forehead. He closed his eyes as he welcomed the coolness against his forehead, letting out a shuddered gasp. After a bit, she left the bathroom and came back with a medical spray, clean bandages, and a tall glass of water. She helped him up and had him sit at the edge of the tub.

She removed his shirt and slowly removed the bandages. She inwardly cringed at the sight of an open wound and the various bruises that covered his abs and ribs. She got another wet towel and started to clean it as much as she could. He wasn't saying anything as he would occasionally drink his water. The only reaction she was getting from him was his abs twitching whenever she was directly cleaning his wound.

Never in a million years did she think she would be on her knees, between the legs of a half naked Sting as he sat at the edge of the tub with her tending to his injuries.

However, he finally hissed when she sprayed the wound with the medicinal spray she brought.

"Sorry," she said softly as she looked at him quickly, "I was gonna have you take a shower before hand but that was probably going to make it worse."

She then wrapped the clean bandages around his torso and then led him back into the room. She handed him a small cup of tea when he sat on the bed.

"Don't smell it, just drink it. It'll help the horrible hangover you're going to have in the morning."

He did as he was told. He drank it in one go and made a face. She then gave him water again and some pills which he immediately took as well. He felt some of the nausea fading slightly as he had his head on his hands as he was sitting on the bed.

Aria sighed as she took in his still form. He would probably tell her in the morning what had happened, although she already had a bad feeling about it. She grabbed the extra pajamas and went into the bathroom to change. She threw away the bloody bandages while she was in there as well.

She came back out in a blue tank top and small shorts. She opened one of the books Levy had given her a while back and tried making herself comfortable in the small chair in the room. She didn't want to go to sleep in case he needed to throw up.

"It hurts…"

She looked up from the book, confused as she didn't expect him to talk to her while in his state. She sighed and she walked up to him.

"I could probably give you one more pill for the pain..."

She trailed off as the sudden scent of tears hit her nose. Her eyes widened in alarm.

"Is your wound that bad? I should probably take you to the hospital—"

He got up abruptly, swaying from side to side as he strode forward, gripping her shoulders as he shouted.

"Tell me why I can't have Lector back?!" Tears streamed down his face as it twisted in pain, "Th-This isn't fair! H-He's supposed to b-be with me!"

He was talking about his exceed.

She moved her hands to his face, holding him in place as she spoke to him clearly, "Sting, what are you talking about? Where is he?"

His grip on her tightened as more sorrow filled his eyes. His knees buckled and he landed on the floor in front of her. The alcohol and emotions he felt finally overtaking his body.

It was probably because of how horrible he looked that she pitied him. Years of comforting Tessa after Uzume left took over and she did the only thing she could.

She kneeled down and helped him back up. She pulled him to the bed and made him lay on her lap as he continued to cry. She hesitated for a moment, but she eventually gave in and started running her fingers through his blond hair. She spoke to him in a very soft voice, trying to calm him down.

Eventually, she heard him breathing evenly, announcing that he had fallen asleep. She tried to remove herself, but he had automatically tightened his grip on her thighs. She groaned as she ran a hand through her face and banged her head against the bed frame.

There was no way she could get off the bed.

/././.

When she started to wake up, she felt an unknown warmth around her body. She groaned as she automatically moved closer to the warmth, that seemed to also pull her closer, when a small chuckle interrupted her.

"Badass on the field, a cuddler in bed. You're full of surprises Krane."

Her eyes snapped open immediately. She was met with a strong chiseled jaw and her eyes seemed to widen even more when she was staring back at a pair of blue eyes.

She screamed as she jumped away from him, but she was tangled in the blankets and ended up falling off the bed with a loud thud. Sting started to laugh, but then groaned as the headache from his hangover finally sunk in.

"God don't scream…" he groaned as he held his head.

She finally untangled herself from the blankets on the floor and was thankful to see that she was still fully clothed.

"Just because I helped you doesn't mean it gives you the right to grope me!" She said as she stood up and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

He groaned again, "I didn't grope you… just held you… I think."

She glared at him as he scratched his head as he thought of something, "You kind of snore too."

He groaned even more when a pillow made contact with his face. She knew she was red. Why wouldn't she be? She had practically woken up in the arms of Sting Eucliffe.

She went over to the bag she had brought with her and pulled out a bottle with three blue pills. Apparently Wendy had figured out how to make the Troia spell into pills and had given some to her the night before in case of an emergency. She grabbed one and walked over to Sting who was slowly sitting up.

"This should take the nausea away," she hastily gave him the pill as she turned her head, in hopes to hide her red face.

He skeptically looked at it but ended up taking it. She handed him the water that was on the nightstand next to him and he quickly swallowed it.

The nausea was instantly gone and the headache had gone down as well.

His blue eyes widened and looked at her, "What was that?"

She crossed her arms, "Courtesy of our small slayer, Wendy." She sighed, "Feel better?"

He gave her back the glass of water, "Yeah… thanks."

She then really looked at him, "You think you can tell me what happened for me to find you beyond drunk and getting punked by some other drunk idiots? All you said last night was that Lector was taken away from you or something."

His eyes darkened and he got up from the bed and went towards the window. He stood still for a while until he finally spoke.

"He beat us because we lost," his voice was lacking the usual light tone, "It was bad. He screamed at us. Then… Lector…my exceed..." his voice started to shake, "He started to defend me. But then he attacked him and Lector was just gone," his shoulders started to shake, "I attacked him for what he did. I almost killed him. I would have if it wasn't for Minerva. She stepped in and I thought she was going to kill me. I wish she would have. But then she said Lector was fine. But I can't see him until Sabertooth wins the games. I have to defeat you to have him back."

Glass breaking snapped him out of the trance he was in as he told her what happened. His eyes widened to see a dark look on her face and blood was dripping from her palm.

"What the hell did you do?"

He rushed to her and quickly pulled her carefully to the bathroom. He put her hand under the faucet as he turned the knob on the sink. She hissed as the water hit the wound and even more so when he removed a piece of glass.

"How many times did he beat you before last night?" She found herself asking him as he was fixing up her hand.

His head turned to her, his blonde hair moving with the sudden movement, "How did-"

"You already know I'm related to them. Why do you think I'm not part of Sabertooth? Him and his wife forced the dragon lacrima in me. They beat me senseless because it was part of 'training'" she scoffed, "What a load of bullshit. I got tired of the abuse and left. So, I'm asking again. How many times did he beat your ass? You and Rogue were clearly one of his prized possessions besides his daughter."

He was bandaging her hand as he responded softly, "Way too many to count."

They went back into the room. She was still worried at the fact that Minerva had his exceed captive.

She tried to reason with him as she pulled the chair and placed it in front of him as he sat on the bed, "You don't have to go into a murder spree to win the games to see him. She's just as bad as him. She's just using you."

His eyes were hard as he stared at her, "I know that. But what else can I do? Defeating you and your friends is the only thing that's going to bring Lector back! I can't give up on him. You saw it too, how Natsu's cat was terrified when Minerva had him. I can't imagine what Lector could be going through…"

He bowed his head as he felt a rush of emotions coming to him.

"You can't let her control you."

"I don't think I have another choice. He's too important to me."

"You think we are just going to let you win? It's not going to be easy Sting. What happens if you lose? How are you going to get him back then?"

His eyes flashed, "I won't."

She held his gaze, "If you say so."

They stayed in silence for a while. She sighed heavily as she got up to get a glass of water. When she turned around, she was startled that he was right behind her.

He wasn't as tall as Laxus, but still taller than her. His blue eyes were curious as he stared at her.

"I'm not even from your guild. Why are you helping me?"

His tone was softer than the previous harshness regarding Lector, and gave him a small smile, "Sometimes a helping hand is needed, even from a foe."

He barely nodded. His eyes moved and that's when he took notice of her shoulders. He could see the bruising on her tan skin. He lifted his hand and carefully touched them.

"Did I do that to you?"

She had forgotten about the bruises, "It's okay. You were riled up cause of what happened. No hard feelings."

She took in how his eyes went back to her face and that's when she paid attention of how close they really were.

She cleared her throat, "Maybe we should get going. I bet Rogue must be worried for you."

Sting's blue eyes widened dramatically as he thought of his best friend, "Shit, you're right. Do you want to use the shower first?"

She shook her head, "You go."

He quickly went inside the bathroom. She sighed as she heard the water turned on.

"Yo, Aria."

She turned her head as he was poking his head out from the bathroom door, "Yeah?"

He gave her a sly grin, "You already slept in the same bed as me and cuddled. You're sure you don't want to share the shower? I wouldn't mind that either."

Her response was a small shot of thunder thrown at him but he quickly closed the door, his laughter echoing on the inside. She shook her head at his antics. At least he sounded somewhat normal again.

Several minutes went by when she finally decided to move around the room to clean it up when there was a frantic knock on the door. As she approached it, her eyes widened as she caught the scent of the other person.

She opened it slowly, "Tessa-"

Tessa barged in, "We have been looking for you for hours! Why did you sleep here tonight? We need to go. Something happened last night— Wait, who's here?"

"What happened?" Aria asked her seriously. Tessa looked like she hadn't gotten any rest.

"Tessa?" She heard his voice out in the hallway. Aria's eyes widened.

"He's with you?" She hissed at her as her eyes were moving frantically between her best friend and the open door.

"I told you we were looking for you!"

Aria swallowed as she heard the shower shutting off.

"Get rid of him unless you want a bloodbath to happen!"

Tessa had never seen her so alarmed, but immediately went outside. She closed the door behind her just as Laxus had turned to the corner. On the inside of the room, Aria was frantically spraying her perfume in hopes that it would cover Sting's scent.

"What the hell is she doing in there?"

Tessa swallowed as she answered quickly, "She decided to get drunk as hell and landed in here. She's indecent so you can't go in! She's fine— don't worry! I'll bring her to the bar once she's ready!"

She was talking a little too fast. He rose his eyebrow in suspicion and looked at the door. He could hear noises in the other side.

"Aria?"

He could hear mild coughing and then a thump.

" _Y-Yeah I'm fine! I'll go with Tessa!"_

Tessa innocently smiled at him, "See? Don't worry. Just start going. They may need more help restraining Natsu."

He still wasn't fully convinced, but if Aria got so drunk she ended up being in another inn, the last thing he wanted was to piss off her hungover self. So he left without a word. Tessa waited for a while to make sure he had left and she sighed in relief. She turned around and opened the door. As she went in, her green eyes grew in size as she saw what was in front of her.

Aria was currently wrestling a shirtless and semi wet Sting, on the floor with her on top of him, as he had a hold of her perfume bottle.

They both froze when they heard the door open. Their position didn't look any less innocent as they had stopped with her straddling him, the strap of her tank top coming down from one of Aria's shoulders.

Tessa was blinking at them and she gasped when she saw the bruises on her shoulders, her mind immediately going down the gutter.

Aria finally took notice of the position she was in and where Tessa was looking. She jumped off of him and successfully snatched the perfume bottle. She fixed the strap of her tank top as she flushed in embarrassment and turned to Tessa.

"This is seriously not what it looks like!"

Tessa was still gaping at her like a puffer fish.

Sting snorted as he got up. His pants were still unbuckled, making Tessa blush and turn away as he fastened them.

"Imagine if she had found us on the bed—"

Aria immediately threw the perfume bottle at his head making him yelp.

"You're not helping!"

He rubbed his head as he put on his shirt and then his shoes. He walked over to the door, where Tessa immediately moved as she kept staring between the two of them.

"See ya on the field Krane. Thanks for last night."

He had the audacity to wink at her as he said the last part and he finally left. Aria was seething in anger.

"That cocky—"

"What the hell was that about? Did you have sex with him?!"

Aria shook her head, "NO! Of course not!"

Tessa gave her a stern look as she crossed her arms, "Don't lie to me. You slept in another inn and you were here, alone, with a shirtless guy!"

Aria growled, "It's not what it looks like! I found him drunk and he was injured. He didn't want to go back to his guild and I couldn't just let him sleep on top of the trash cans. I brought him here and I helped him. That's it. He fell asleep on my lap. We must've moved around on the bed as we were asleep. But nothing else happened."

"What's with the bruises?"

She sighed, "He was telling me what happened and he gripped me a little too tight. It wasn't his intention. And honestly I don't blame him."

She sat on the bed as she ran a hand through her head. Tessa approached her and sat next to her.

"Why you say that?"

"Minerva is using Lector, his exceed, as leverage for him to win the games tomorrow. Jiemma attacked him and Rogue for losing against me and Natsu. That's why he was injured. He almost killed Jiemma because he attacked Lector. But Minerva is holding him hostage."

They stayed silent for a moment. Tessa sighed as she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, her eyes lingering on the bruises.

"If Laxus finds out about this—"

"One, nothing in that nature happened. Two— he's not my boyfriend. We are not together. It's not like I cheated on him."

Tessa bit her lip as she didn't look convinced, "But this could still hurt him. Maybe talk to him after we go to the bar…"

Aria turned to her, "Oh, right. You two were looking for me. What's going on?"

Tessa's soft face quickly turned into anger, "You know how we went to check out the vision Carla had? Well— long story short, Lucy got arrested by the Royal Army."


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Plan

The news of Lucy getting arrested by the Royal Army did not sit well with Aria. After gathering her things and taking a quick shower, she immediately went with Tessa to the meeting Makarov had called. She was glad she had packed in a black v neck shirt, just enough to cover the bruises on her shoulders.

On the way there, Tessa quickly explained to her the events back at the cave. A man named Captain Arcadios appeared alongside Yukino, both claiming knowing about a plan that would defeat both Zeref and Acnologia. The captain explained to them the Eclipse Project. Apparently the Grand Magic games were designed as a ruse to collect magical energy from the participating wizards in order to create something called the Eclipse, a door.

They walked along the streets as Tessa continued, "This door, which was huge by the way, needs the twelve celestial keys to be opened. Arcadios said that by opening the door it would take said person four hundred years into the past to defeat Zeref before he became immortal. The door has the same magical element that the celestial world has. The sun and the moon are supposed to align in… well, now two days."

Aria's eyebrows furrowed, "Isn't July 7th when Uzume disappeared?"

Tessa nodded, "Yes. So he asked Lucy for help. However this short man, the Defense Minister, appeared and said he wouldn't allow the plan to be put forth. We were surrounded by the Army and Lucy, Yukino, and Arcadios were arrested. Natsu tried attacking but since we were so close to the gate, it's like his magic was taken away. The Defense Minister then stated that the king likes Fairy Tail and _if_ we win the games then we may have an audience with the King."

Aria growled, "That's such bullshit."

They reached the Bar Sun and from outside, Aria could hear Natsu's angry rants.

Tessa sighed as she reached for the handle, "He's been like that ever since he woke up."

When the two of them walked in, Aria saw that Erza, Mira, Gray, Gajeel, Wendy, the exceeds and the Master were there at the front. Laxus was leaning against a wall closest to his grandfather and Natsu was tied up to prevent him from rushing in and destroying the castle.

Makarov looked at the girls, his gaze falling on Aria, "Has Tessa told you of the events?"

Aria crossed her arms and nodded.

"She did. Whatever you need me for I'm in."

Gajeel grunted, "I still don't understand why they just let us go, knowing we know about their secret plan."

"You and Natsu are on the team," Mira quickly said, "If all of a sudden you two were missing it would rise a lot of suspicions."

"It seemed they were after Arcadios primarily. Maybe they want us to testify against him," Lily inquired.

"Either way, they're risking their plan of getting leaked out," Gray said.

"It doesn't matter why they took her," Aria added in, "In my eyes she's a goddamn hostage."

Tessa nodded, "You would think that the kingdom wouldn't want a guild as an enemy."

Natsu suddenly broke free from the ropes, "LET'S GO RESCUE HER ALREADY!"

Makarov was quick on slamming Natsu on the ground with his giant fist.

"Calm down!" Makarov angrily said. His hard gaze then fell on them, "I assume you all feel the same way about a member of our family being taken. Usually rushing in without a plan is our method but we can't do the same with this enemy. We need to be careful about this."

Tessa placed a hand on Gajeel's bicep and looked at the master, "Even if we win, I still don't trust they'll release her. Even if that's the legal way of getting her back."

"We have no reason to do so," he said as he agreed with her, "Tomorrow everyone will be focused on the games."

Realization settled in with them.

"You want to send a team to rescue her while everyone else is distracted."

That was the first time Laxus had spoken.

Makarov nodded as he looked at them, "We need a team at the games and one to go inside and rescue Lucy."

"We can't have the whole games team rush into the castle to rescue her," Erza said quickly, "We change the entire lineup and they'll notice."

"Add Gray for Natsu then," Aria said, "It would only be one member. I want to go in there and get her and I know Erza does as well, but like she said, we cannot change the entire lineup."

Makarov stayed quiet for a while, pondering about the situation and finally responded.

"Tomorrow at the games will be the original team with Gray replacing Natsu. Tessa, I want you, Mira, Wendy, and Natsu to go in and rescue Lucy."

"The exceeds should come," Wendy said, "They can help us with taking Lucy away quickly if need be."

"Sounds like the plan has been made then," Mavis suddenly said as she made herself known, "I would like to have a meeting with the team participating at the games tomorrow. I feel we need to go over a thorough plan of action."

Makarov nodded, "Then I will leave you and the team to discuss it. Lily, you think you can carry Natsu out of here?"

The black exceed nodded and quickly transformed into his fighting mode and lifted Natsu up. And with that, they left the bar.

They all moved to sit on a table to listen to Mavis. Laxus leaned down and whispered, "Partied too hard on your own last night?"

She felt her chest tighten. She couldn't understand why she was feeling so guilty.

"Yeah you could say that," as they sat down she turned to look at him, "You think we can talk?"

Mavis looked at all of them and spoke up, interrupting whatever Laxus was going to say, "I have been observing everything the past four days. From enemies magical power, psychologies, movement pattern. Nothing has gone unnoticed by me. I have gone through millions of simulations on what may happen tomorrow."

Erza crossed her arms, "What do you need us to do?"

And just like that, they spent the entire free day they had going over plans of action and the areas they needed to improve on.

"Although each guild has their strong opponent like Kagura, Jura, and even Minerva, the one that we need to watch out for and defeat since he's the key to Sabertooth is Rufus. With his magic, he's capable of knowing your movements."

Gray's eyes immediately widened and he stood up, "Let _me_ take him down!"

Everyone saw the hesitation instantly on the First Master's face, "With my calculations, putting you against Rufus will be at a great disadvantage. The possibilities of you winnin—"

"I don't care about that!" He roared as he slammed his hands on the table, "Lucy needs my help and I have a score to settle with him from the first day. As a member of Fairy Tail I ask you to let me do this."

The spirit pondered for a minute, "Sometimes emotions exceed calculations. Show me then."

And so on, she went over the plan with them. On who was going to be taking down who. Then Minerva's name got brought up.

"I think that's a dead given she's mine," Aria said as she crossed her arms.

"Just like with Gray, my calculations also put you at a disadvantage. Although you were successful in your match with the twin dragons, Minerva's magic puts her at a whole other level."

"She's going to seek me out regardless!" She snapped, "I _killed_ her mother for crying out loud. Either way she's coming for me. And I'll receive her with open arms after what she did to Lucy."

Mavis bit her lip, "The possibilities of you coming out alive—"

Aria's eyes flashed, "I **will** win even if it kills me."

Mavis gaze held hers, "I'm sorry but for this fight, I have to put my foot down. Erza will be the one to fight her."

Aria growled but she couldn't find herself to argue with her. After all, she was the First Master.

Even after the plans were done and they had to go back and rest, she didn't have the energy to talk to Laxus about what had happened with Sting. Gajeel wanted to have a talk with her, but after that, she went straight to sleep.

* * *

The following morning, the rescue team met up back at the bar to set their plan in motion.

"We need to wait until we can hear the fireworks to get moving," Tessa said, "Then we'll know everyone will be distracted."

"At least the streets will be practically empty so no one will wonder why Natsu is running around," Mira said with a laugh. However, Natsu didn't respond how they thought he would. His expression was set and serious as he looked out the window from their spot at the bar.

Wendy gave Natsu a small smile, "Don't worry. We'll get her."

He clenched his fists, "I swear if she's hurt in any way…"

"She won't be," Tessa reassured him, "You'll get to her and she's going to be okay."

Panther Lily was seeing the coliseum from another window, "I can see the balloons, it's about to start."

And sure enough, the fireworks were heard in the distance and they rushed out of the bar instantly.

Natsu took the lead, his heart pounding as his mind kept taking him to Lucy being taken. He wasn't sure where this newfound rage was coming from, but he was accepting it. Anything to get her back.

As they ran through the streets, with all three exceeds flying low, Carla voiced her concern.

"How are we getting in?"

* * *

She shifted in her mid thigh high black combat boots as she could hear the commentators calling each guild. She kept tightening the strap on her wrist from her finger-less gloves. She was still in a foul mood for not being allowed to fight Minerva. It made her feel weak.

She sighed again as she crossed her arms.

This was it. The final day of the games. It was up to them to bring back the title of number one to their guild and Lucy was counting on them as well. Her heart was beating hard on her chest as the anticipation of the event starting was getting to her.

Erza took in her nervousness and approached her, "Are you ready for this?"

She nodded, "I am."

Erza hesitated as she bit her lip, "I'm sorry that the First Master gave the order of me battling Minerva. I understand that should have been your fight. I can assure you that I will not let you down."

Aria's eyes connected with hers, "She's vicious and a manipulator. Don't let her get to your head."

Erza was about to say something when they heard Sabertooth being called out. Gajeel came up to them, "You all ready?"

They both nodded. They walked towards Gray and Laxus when Aria looked at Gajeel, "Tessa is going to be successful with the rest of them. I'm sure she's cheering you on right now."

He smirked slightly, "She better be."

" **AND NOW IN FIRST PLACE! THE GUILD THAT'S MAKING A HISTORIC COMEBACK! LET'S WELCOME FAIRY TAIL!"**

The crowd cheered loudly as they walked through the purple smoke. Confetti was everywhere as it blew with the wind as they stepped into the arena. As the purple smoke cleared, the commentators took notice of their lineup.

They weren't the only ones. Sting and Rogue took notice of Natsu being gone and he had been replaced with Gray, which immediately got noticed by Lyon as well.

"Natsu isn't participating?" Rogue quietly said from Sting's side. The blonde's blue eyes swept through the team and landed on Aria. He had a feeling it had to do with whatever her friend had come searching for her.

There were various murmurs of Natsu's disappearance in the crowd but that didn't deter them from standing with pride in front of the audience and in front of their rivals. Aria felt Sting's gaze on her and she held it for a second. She saw it immediately, the determination to get Lector back. Her eyes then moved to Minerva who smirked at her. The dark haired woman walked up to her casually.

Aria instantly tensed and she felt Laxus and Erza moving closer to her.

"Good luck today cousin," Minerva said with a sneer as a smirk appeared on her face, "I'm surprised you have energy after the _glorious_ night you spent with Sting."

Her eyes widened, "What?" Her eyes swept from behind Minerva, to see Sting look just as confused as her.

Minerva's eyes glimmered with ill intent as she looked at Laxus, "It seems you have a thing for blondes, isn't that right _Aria?_

Laxus glared at her, "If you're trying to lie to get her riled up—"

She shook her finger at him, "Oh but I'm not. You see, she _spent_ the night with our little blond slayer. The same night she defeated him. Why do you think she didn't sleep on the same inn as her team? Aren't you wondering why her shoulders are covered when they're always bare?"

And true enough, her shoulders were covered by a pair of steel pauldrons on each shoulder that were connected to another metal piece that was around her neck. She clenched her fists tightly.

A growl escaped from her lips as she could _feel_ Laxus' gaze on her, "That is not what happened."

Minerva winked at her, "So you're denying to have spent the night with him?"

Aria swallowed, "I did but—"

The moment the words came out of her mouth, Laxus had abruptly left her side, immediately going back to the rest of the team. She felt sick. He was thinking the worst scenario.

Minerva laughed as she went back to her team. Aria took a step forward but Erza quickly grabbed her arm.

"Let's go."

She took notice of the short tone the woman had and Aria sighed as she whispered to her, "It wasn't like that. I just helped him. Nothing else."

Ezra's chocolate brown eyes took in the sorrow that was starting to fill her golden eyes. She didn't say anything.

For the final showdown, the entire city of Crocus had been recreated to become the battlefield. All the teams spread out throughout the city and Erza went over the plan with them.

"We are not just doing this for Lucy," Gajeel said as he crossed his arms.

"This is for our guild too," Gray said as he nodded.

"After seven years of heartache it's the least we could do."

Aria found herself agreeing to what Laxus said. The others started to get in position but she couldn't let them start like this. It could cost them everything.

She went up to him and grabbed his arm, "Laxus—"

"Don't fucking touch me," he snapped. He took in a deep breath as he tried to remain in control. His gray eyes were filled up with anger and as they bore into hers. He whispered harshly to her, "All this _fucking_ time I've been trying to redeem myself for what happened a while back. To _explain_ to you that she had meant nothing. But for what? For you to go ahead and make me believe that maybe, just maybe, I was forgiven and we could give this a shot when in reality you went and _fucked_ someone and then _lie_ about it?"

Suddenly, up in the sky the six orbs went up in the sky signaling the start of the games.

"I don't want to have anything to fucking do with you ever again."

And as the fireworks went off, Aria felt her heart breaking into two.

* * *

"I can't believe that strategy worked," Tessa said as they moved through the corridors of the castle. She had been behind Mira as her and the exceeds had dressed up as a soldier while having Natsu and Wendy as prisoners. She had used an illusion wall with her glass, so neither of the soldiers that they came across had a clue of her being there.

They moved cautiously until eventually they found the dungeons. With the slayer's nose, they were able to find easily both Yukino and Lucy in a cell.

"Lucy! Wake up!" Natsu whispered. The blonde awoke from the small cell and her eyes widened with happiness to see them there. As Natsu used his strength and fire to bend the bars, Yukino was astonished to see that they had gone past the guards.

Mira gave Lucy a bag, "Here, we brought you extra clothes!"

Tessa looked at both girls, "You guys weren't hurt right?"

Yukino shook her head, "No. They just tossed us in here."

"We need to find a way out of this hell hole," Carla commented as she looked around the dark cell.

"I need my keys!" Lucy said as she put on her boots, "That old fart took them. Just wait until-"

"What's that sound?" Tessa asked. Wendy, Natsu and the exceeds looked around as they could hear the rumbling. Suddenly, the ground opened underneath them and they all fell through a dark hole, their screams echoing as they fell down. Once they landed, they all landed on top of one another. Tessa was rubbing her head as she looked around. It was a bigger cave, slightly reminding her of the dragon graveyard. Due to the darkness and the small light in there, everything seemed to be in a dark green color. A shiver went up her spine when she could see countless skeletons scattered on the floor.

" _Welcome to your permanent holding cell."_

* * *

Aria smirked slightly to see that Gray had made it into the library where Rufus laid. She had faith in him to get payback and to defeat the mage. That was the first time she had felt anything other than disappointment after what Laxus had said to her.

She had come across two other wizards and she had disposed of them with ease. Her temper was practically flaring because of what happened. She wasn't paying attention as she walked. But then she heard the commentators gasping as Sting came into view walking down the street.

" **IT SEEMS THAT WE ARE ABOUT TO HAVE A REMATCH BETWEEN BOTH SLAYERS!"**

"Are you really going to go through with this? Fall under her manipulation?" She asked him as she stopped and he continued walking towards her. She lowered her voice, "You heard what she said before all of this started."

"Manipulation or not, I'm doing this for Lector. But my fight isn't with you, not yet."

He walked by past her and didn't say anything else. She shook her head but then continued on with her way until she came across Sherria.

* * *

She wasn't sure for how long they were walking around. After finding out the princess was the one responsible for their arrest, it had left Tessa in an irritated mood. Neither of them could find a scent of fresh air or something. All Tessa was picking up on was the scent of death.

They searched around, even on their own. But they were coming up empty. Then Happy had the ridiculous idea that soldiers could possibly be watching them and that the girls should show some skin to lure them in.

Lily immediately jumped in, "Tessa won't do it. The last thing we want is Gajeel finding out and neutering you Happy."

Tessa laughed nervously as Yukino looked at her, "Oh that's right. You're Gajeel's mate."

She smiled softly, "Yeah, I am. I just hope he's doing well at the games right now."

"I'm sure he is!" Wendy brightly reassured her, "He's strong!"

Happy's plan didn't work, so they pitifully continued walking around the cave until they could find some sort of clue. But it felt they were just walking around in circles. There was no sense of direction at all in the cave. But they weren't giving up. Yukino expressed her gratitude for what Natsu did to Sabertooth. The woman started to open up to them, even to the point that Mira mentioned that Yukino reminded her of Lisanna.

But their moment of bonding was ruined when there was a sudden tremor within the cave. Immediately Tessa could smell the air and both Carla and Lily quickly took to the air to figure out where it was coming from.

Both exceeds found an opening that it was a tight squeeze, but little by little all of them were able to go through. Tessa could only shake her head as Natsu helped Lucy and the blonde woman landed on his face after he pulled her. Once all of them made it through, the scent of blood immediately reached her nose.

"Wait," Tessa said, "Isn't that Arcadios?"

They ran to him, Wendy quickly using her magic to heal him.

The man grunted painfully, "D-Don't… run...away…"

Tessa's instincts kicked in and she barely was able to put up a shield the moment a giant fist came to attack them. Green gooze was coming out of his fist and started to melt her glass.

Her green eyes widened in shock, "What the hell!"

"Drop the shield!" Natsu immediately said as he took hold of the injured man. Tessa held it as much as she could but then finally flipped away.

"That's acid!" Lily exclaimed.

Another man appeared with a flag and attacked them suddenly. Pieces of purple paper and a flower appeared as well, revealing two women.

Tessa immediately created her glass lance and put it in a defensive position in front of her, "Who are these guys?"

"I think they're the ones that attacked Arcadios!" Yukino exclaimed as she took a step back.

Arcadios grunted, "They're an independent squad that serves the kingdom in the shadows. They're the Hungry Wolf Knights, the executioners."

"They don't really look the part…" Lucy commented as the five of them stood in front of them.

Yukino shook her head, "If the rumors are true, they are extremely ruthless and powerful."

But Natsu had other ideas as he laughed at them.

Arcadios shook his head, "Don't let their appearance fool you! They're the reason why no one has left this cave alive."

Tessa's eyes flashed as she twirled her lance and pointed it at them, "Well it ain't going to happen with us."

Natsu smirked as he cracked his knuckles, "Alright, now we are talking!"

Wendy looked at Yukino and Lucy, "You two should stay back since you don't have your keys."

Mira nodded, "We will take care of them. Probably leave one conscious to tell us how to get out of here."

Lily joined the fighting group as well, telling Carla and Happy to stay with the girls and Arcadios. The two women in the group stepped in, immediately stating they would take them on.

The woman in purple blue a piece of red paper at them, and as it flew in the air it duplicated into hundreds of them, creating a whirlpool of fire made out of paper hurling it towards them. However, before it could even reach Natsu who was anticipating the flames, all the papers were cut in tiny pieces as a shower of glass shards came from another direction.

The woman's eyes widened in shock to see her attack becoming nothing, "What the-"

Tessa smirked as she had her hand in front of her, "You're going to have to do better than that."

Wendy smiled as she cheered, "Alright Tessa!"

The woman glared, "What are you?"

Tessa grinned as she sprinted at her, "Your worst nightmare!"


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Diamond and Darkness

Kamika wasn't expecting this. No one had ever been successful to destroy her paper magic with such ease. Her victims would always succumb to it, but this woman had shredded her magic like nothing. The pieces fell swiftly, like a leaf falling from a tree and sadly to the ground.

And not only that, she was fast.

One way she could describe it, the woman moved like water. Elegant, with precise movements that were timed correctly with her weapons. They glowed with the dim light of the cave, the reflection catching on to the walls of the cave, looking similar to a sky filled with stars.

Just who was she?

Wendy immediately jumped in to support Tessa. The way she saw it, two on one would finish the fight faster and they would be able to get rid of the rest. The moment that Kamika tried to attack again, Wendy had retaliated with a dragon roar, also successful enough to destroy the papers as well.

Kamika let out an annoyed scream and Cosmos jumped into the battle. She moved her hands and monstrous vines emerged from the ground as a flower button with fangs appeared from underneath and trapped Wendy in. Tessa went after her but was intercepted by a hoard of spiked vines, preventing her to reach her.

"Wendy!"

Gratefully, Wendy wasn't inside the plant for long since Mira was able to destroy it with ease as she transformed into her Sitri takeover. Cosmos however, didn't give up. She unleashed several more vines with spikes all over the area, barely missing the heads of Natsu and Panther Lily. Tessa slashed some of them with her lance and that's when she saw Kamika hurling another attack with purple papers.

They were all scattered but she had to protect them.

She yelled as her body glowed a bright pink and various glass cages appeared around each of her friends, protecting them from the incoming attack. Cosmos glared at the woman and unleashed her attack, grow flow.

A giant flower appeared in the ceiling. It rumbled as air started being sucked, attempting to pull them in. Tessa groaned as she tried to maintain the glass boxes in the ground, but one of the Knights attacked her, making her lose the concentration she had over them. All of them started to being pulled but Natsu growled out.

"ATTACK THE FLOWER!"

They did as they were told, but their powers combined and attacking a suctioning flower created a massive explosion, hurdling them all in different directions.

She groaned as she felt the impediment headache settling in. She made a mental note to never listen to Natsu to attack something that was sucking in air. She wasn't an expert in science but clearly those two things didn't mix well together.

As she slowly got up, she didn't even want to look at her bare arms. She already knew she was developing bruises on her creamy skin and probably some cuts too. Her hair fell over her shoulder as it had come undone with the blast and she sighed irritably. As much as she loved her hair, sometimes it was an inconvenience when in battle for how long it was.

"I've got to say," a breathless soft voice said, "I'm impressed. No one has ever been able to destroy Kimika's magic. But it's my turn to have some fun with you."

Tessa looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened to see Cosmos standing not too far away from her, a sinister soft smile gracing the girl's features.

That's when Tessa realized she was by herself.

"You are rather pretty… and so is your magic… too bad you'll be dead soon enough!"

Tessa glared at her as she rushed forward, " _Glass Dragon Twin Swords!"_

The two long swords appeared in a flash in her hands, immediately slashing at Cosmos who kept putting up barriers of vines. The pink haired woman laughed and she then raised her hands.

"Spore Bomb, Rinka Renka!"

Various bombs in the shape of seeds came out from the ceiling and started bombarding Tessa. She was quick enough to evade some of them, but the moment one exploded too close to her she placed a shield over her to cover herself. However, Cosmos was quick with another attack. The moment she saw Tessa being distracted, she unleashed a wave of smoke. At first Tessa thought that it was just regular smoke from the bombs as they made impact, but her eyes widened when she started to cough uncontrollably, making her drop the barrier. She could feel her eyes growing heavy and her chest tightening.

"W-Why am I so tired?" Tessa wondered out loud as she coughed, sweat dripping from her forehead.

"The spores make you drowsy. The toxins will literally enter your eyes and the pores in your body. They will go inside you in every way and once you fall asleep, it is an eternal darkness," she giggled, "You'll never be awake again."

Her eyes widened as much as they could as she could feel herself growing tired by the second.

 _I'm so sleepy…_ She thought as she fell on her right knee but still trying to support herself.

Gajeel's face came into her head.

 _Woman, get up!_

 _I can nap just for a little bit…_ her other knee fell to the ground and her arms shook as she was in all fours trying to support herself. But the drowsiness was getting too much and her body simply fell to the ground.

 _Don't fall asleep on me! Get up!_

Cosmos smiled as she saw the smoke enveloping the woman, "That was easy enough."

However, as a smirk appeared on her face, she felt a shift of magic in the air. She could see that the woman was glowing a bright pink through the smoke and pulsing aura was enveloping her as she laid flat on the ground. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the girl should've been dead by the toxins.

She could feel him, his presence, his aura enveloping like a blanket snuggly wrapped around her. She welcomed the warmth spreading through her body and the shift of his magic as she could feel him merging with hers.

"What is this?" Kimika asked loudly as her eyes widened. The magical energy she could feel from the woman was far more powerful than what she originally felt from her. Tessa started to get up, her movements clumsy as she regained control of her body.

A growl came from Tessa as her body continued to glow until a flash of light erupted from her body. Cosmos raised her hands in shock to cover herself, and all she could see were glowing shards scattering away from her. She saw Tessa standing up and she screeched, "YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO MOVE!"

Tessa let out an enraged scream as her body released microscopic shards containing the smoke that had entered her body. It reminded Cosmos of diamonds.

When she blinked, Tessa was in front of her in a flash and her eyes widened. Her entire body was glossy, not like just a piece of glass, but like various diamonds were protecting her- imbedded in her skin. She could see the gray scales and her eyes were different, the slits reminding her of a feral animal and the color changing as well. She retaliated quickly, sending her various waves of plant magic attacks but Tessa was slashing at every single one with ease. Her speed was like never before and her weapons kept changing faster. From a lance, long sword, daggers, she was creating the weapons out of her diamond self a whole lot faster and stronger than what she could ever accomplish before.

The blood in her veins was pumping as she could feel the adrenaline accelerating in her body. Even her vision was better and her instincts were kicking in when a vine or some other evil flower, as she thought of them as, tried sneaking up on her. She was on it within a second, not letting the other mage have the upper hand again.

Cosmos knew she was in trouble and she was trying to put as much distance as possible from her and the deadly slayer.

Tessa was a dangerous weapon all on her own.

Tessa was finally able to get close enough to her and kicked her, sending her to slam onto the wall of the cave. Gajeel would have been proud of that damn kick. She was sure she just put to shame Lucy as she was infamous for her Lucy-Kicks whenever she was pissed off. Cosmos was panting hard as she winced and stared at her wide eyed.

"What is this power? You didn't have this before!"

A beautiful sword made out of diamonds appeared in Tessa's hand as she glared, "My friends are in danger because of all of you! You and the rest of your group will pay for what you have done. I do not care that you maintain the peace by killing criminals. WE are not criminals! _We are Fairy Tail!_ "

Her aura glowed brighter as she readied her sword, " _DRAGON SLAYER ULTIMATE ATTACK! DIAMOND RAMPAGE WAVE!"_

She slashed her sword in front of her and a wave of sharp diamonds, like tiny darts, came out of the sword and moved like water. They glowed brightly and beautifully, putting her old glass attacks to shame. The wave made impact with Cosmos, sending her crashing onto the wall again, but this time, the force had been powerful enough to send her right through it and create a gaping hole.

Tessa panted as she walked over, but her eyes widened as she saw the remainder of the knights lying unconscious on the ground.

"Tessa? Is that you?" Mira asked her apprehensively. She had a feeling it was the woman, but her magical aura and the diamond scales sparkling were breathtaking and it confused her since she was a glass dragon slayer.

Tessa took a deep breath, but the adrenaline had faded away, the diamond scales disappearing from her body, and she felt exhausted. The toxins had been in her body, even if it was a short amount of time and now she felt beyond tired.

She fell and they rushed to her. Wendy turned her on her back and Tessa tiredly looked at them.

She gave them a crooked grin, "Hey guys."

* * *

She had to give it to the small girl, she was a force to be reckoned with. She was fast and she was witty. Using more force than with her fight with Wendy.

But Aria was faster.

It was taking a lot longer than she thought to defeat the girl, but it wasn't until she heard the loud exclaims of the commentators going crazy that Erza was going against Kagura _and_ Minerva sent her senses haywire. It was finally starting but she wasn't supposed battle her. She growled with frustration.

She sped up her attacks, and just when she thought she finally had her, an ice make wolf lunged at her and she barely had time to raise her arms in defense as her thunder rumbled with the impact of the ice animal.

"Well look what you found Sherria," Lyon said with a smirk on his face, "This should be easy enough."

She growled when there was a sudden increase of powerful magic coming from the east and she just knew it had to do with her cousin. The sense of disobeying Mavis was taking over her. She cracked her neck as she moved her fingers, waiting for one of them to attack.

Lyon did.

* * *

"If that guy told us the wrong direction I swear I will go back there and skin him alive," Tessa mumbled as she held Lily in her arms. Although the exceed had been successful in defeating one of the knights, he had been left a bit battered and exhausted. She had taken a small nap after finding the others and even now still felt extremely tired.

The others had fussed over her new element and she explained to them that it had to do with her mating with Gajeel. She wasn't sure how iron and glass made her have the element of diamond but she wasn't complaining. It had been sharper and stronger than her glass that's for sure. However, it was her sudden strength that really had her baffled. She was still proud of that kick.

They were successful and found a door, but just as Natsu was about to bust it open, the huge doors opened slowly, to reveal a cloaked figure standing before them.

She saw the others quickly getting into the defensive, and she couldn't quite blame them. After what had happened with the Hungry Wolf Knights, them coming across anyone suspicious was enough to put them cautious.

There was something eerily familiar about the figure though, but when they removed the hood that covered their face, everyone gasped and Tessa felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"L-Lucy?" She said with a gasp.

The Lucy in front of them suddenly started to cry, and just as she passed out and she fell on the ground, Natsu caught her. Their Lucy was beyond confused and slightly terrified. One thing was Gemini transforming into herself, another was seeing herself in the flesh, not by the work of a spirit.

What the hell was going on?

Natsu picked her up, "Let's get out of here and take her with us."

Mira nodded, "We need to send out the flare to let the others know we have Lucy."

Happy nervously stared at the unconscious blonde in Natsu's arms, "Don't you mean two Lucy's?"

They continued on their way until finally, they had reached the castle. Wendy quickly opened the doors to an empty room and had everyone go in. Lucy had lingered in the back of the group and Tessa had decided to walk alongside her.

"Are you doing okay?"

Lucy's eyes were filled with confusion, "I just want to know what's going on…"

Tessa put an arm around her and gave her a squeeze, "We are going to figure this out, don't worry."

Natsu was extremely gentle and careful as he set the body of the blonde down, and as soon as he did so, she stirred from her unconscious state, her eyes blinking as they tried to refocus.

Wendy went up to her and used some of her healing magic to regain some of her strength and Lucy was finally able to sit up. Her chocolate brown eyes were filled with so much sadness.

"I...I…"

Tessa took a cautious step, "Take a deep breath and then you can explain to us why we are seeing double."

The woman in front of her nodded and after various deep breaths, she spoke, "I know you all know about the Eclipse, how it can be an inter-dimensional door."

Carla's eyes widened, "You cannot mean that you-"

Lucy nodded, her voice raspy and filled with sorrow, "I come from the future…"

Everyone stared wide eyed at her. Slowly and as much as she could in her weakened state, she told all of them why and how she came into the future. She told them about what would occur on July 7th, how humanity lost a war that would forever change their world as they know it.

"We were inside the castle when it happened… What awaits ahead is despair," her voice trembled, "A stampede of ten thousand dragons will come to attack this country."

They were frozen in their spots at the news.

Dragons.

Fucking dragons were coming.

Natsu and Happy went into a panic state immediately. Mira, Wendy, Lucy, and Yukino were frozen in their spots. Tessa could feel the air being knocked out of her. They couldn't even defeat Acnologia, how were they supposed to take on so many dragons attacking at once?

Future Lucy was shocked that they had believed her. They had no reason no to, after all it was Lucy. It didn't matter where she came from. She explained to them on how she used the eclipse and was able to come back on July 4th, x791. She told them she met Jellal and she said him and his independent guild should be working on a plan. She felt utterly horrible, completely helpless as she wished she could do more. She had no idea how to even prevent the catastrophe, but she felt compelled to _do_ something and that's why she used the door.

Her body shook with sobs that Tessa felt a few tears rolling down her cheek. The Lucy in front of them lost literally everything and she was apologizing because she couldn't do more for them. Lucy started to shake next to her and Tessa pulled her into a hug.

But Natsu always had a tendency of not giving up.

He went up to Future Lucy, kneeled in front of her and by placing a hand on her head, he leaned in, placing his forehead against hers. Tessa could hear the way Lucy's heart started to beat from next to her.

"We will figure it out… Thank you… For giving us a future…"

His voice lacked the usual lightness, the teasing, the usual naive mind of Natsu. The Natsu in front of them possessed a maturity that they didn't think it was possible for him. He was always caring of others, but this was different.

"Our future won't be the same," Tessa said quietly as she held Lucy.

* * *

Aria had never been more glad to see Gray, the notorious stripper of their guild, coming to aid her as both Sherria and Lyon had tried to close off her exits.

She had never paired up with the ice make wizard before, just them two, and she could admit, it was fun fighting alongside him. His sarcastic remarks to Lyon had made her laugh a few times, pushing aside the feeling of what was currently going on with Laxus. They both took notice that Lyon and Sherria could not work together as a team. Gray and her were able to understand each other on what they needed to do. After all, she was successful on having a tag team battle with Natsu of all people and not get in an argument with the fire slayer. That for him, it spoke volumes of Aria's capability of working with someone as a team.

But also, he could tell she really wanted to go to Erza. He still couldn't understand why Mavis had allowed him to battle Rufus but refused to let Aria fight Minerva. That didn't sit well with him, even if Mavis had said there was a huge risk of Aria wounding up dead. Although he never had a close relationship with her, he believed in her.

So he brought out all the strength he had left to help her. They got thrown, punched, and kicked. But they did it.

She heard an explosion in the distance after they defeated Lyon and Sherria. Gray heard it as well and as they made eye contact, he nodded at her. That was everything she needed. She transformed in her blue lightning form and rushed through the streets of Crocus.

Screw what the First Master said. She couldn't sit back and let Erza take care of Minerva. Something wasn't sitting well with her. Besides, it's not like she really had much to lose if she were to die by the hands of her cousin.

An eye for an eye, right?

Up on the balcony, Mavis gasped loudly when she saw Aria on the move. Her eyes were wide in alarm as the thunder slayer moved at an incredible speed towards the direction of where Erza was.

"Oh heavens no," she said, "What is she doing?"

"She's going straight for Minerva!" Levy exclaimed.

"Will she win First Master?" Romeo asked curiously as he stared wide eyed at the screen.

"She wasn't supposed to go. She was suppose to stay with Gray until it came time to regroup. I told her the risks! They're far greater than Gray battling Rufus or Erza battling Minerva."

Makarov grunted as Aria reached Erza on the screen, "Then let's hope she wins."

* * *

The more she neared to the site, the more she could make out the scent of blood.

Erza's.

She saw Kagura helping Erza by removing a piece of concrete from her severe leg and that's when she saw Minerva quietly appearing from behind Kagura and lifting the mage's katana.

Aria's eyes widened as she knew what exactly she was going to do. She focused her power and she imitated Laxus' transportation magic. Just as Minerva used the sword, Aria appeared between her and Kagura, and punched her right in the face

" **ARIA HAS JOINED THE FIGHT!"**

But Erza could see that something was wrong as she held on to Kagura who had fallen backwards when Aria made her entrance. And that's when she noticed. The sword had gone through Aria.

"Aria!" Erza shouted as the woman collapsed on a knee and coughed, droplets of blood flying out of her mouth and landing on the floor.

Aria was trying to hold in the scream of pain she wanted to let out. She could feel her entire side burning, stronger than Natsu's flames.

She swallowed as she winced and glared at her cousin, "I think it's time we settled this."

Minerva smirked evilly, "If that's what you want then that's what we'll do little cousin."

She slowly got up, her legs shaking because of the pain, "If I recall, I'm older than you."

"That doesn't count as you were stuck in an island with your pathetic guild."

She moved her hands and a bubble appeared with an unconscious and injured Milliana inside of it, "I have no use for her anymore," and she sent her body directly in front of Aria. Erza and Kagura got up to check on their friend, and while Kagura took a hold of her, Erza was worried over Aria.

"Get her out of here," She said, "And leave the area."

Erza didn't want to. Aria had just gotten stabbed after all and still had the sword through her side. But there was that ferocity in Aria's golden eyes.

She gave her a nod, "This is your fight."

Aria's eyes snapped to Erza's face. She had expected her to yell at her for interrupting the fight, for going against Mavis' word, and for already getting stabbed with a sword. But she didn't. Because Erza could understand that although the probabilities were against her and she was injured, this was Aria's fight.

With a nod filled with respect, Erza let Kagura help her up and both women took away Milliana. Minerva glared at them and as she raised her hand to attack, Aria had attacked first, a shot of her magic directly cancelling out Minerva's blast.

Her cousin's dark green eyes fell upon her and she could feel a shiver going down her spine. She was evil, but that's who Minerva was. Sinister. Cruel.

Ever since a young age and the times she had been allowed to interact with her, Minerva was already showing signs of being deadly. She had called her names, not caring that Aria was older by three years. Minerva had always hated her. To think Aria had wanted to play with her cousin when they were small children.

Minerva raised her hand and Aria felt a strong force around her neck. Minerva lifted her off the ground and held her up in the air. She walked up to her, her long fingers grasping the hilt of the sword and digging it deeper.

Aria didn't want to, but she screamed.

Minerva laughed through it, "This fight is already over," and she pushed the sword in, the sound of the sword going in deeper in the flesh tormenting the viewers and the guild as they watched. Aria screamed in agony again, and as much as her body was burning in pain, she attacked.

" _Thunder Dragon Roar!"_

The roar hit Minerva, but because she had been holding on to the sword still, she took the sword with her when Aria attacked.

The pain was unbelievable and she could feel the blood oozing out of it. She removed the big bandana she had been wearing and used it as a bandage, wrapping it around her torso in hopes to diminish the bleeding.

If she didn't do something soon, she was going to lose the fight and her life. She could feel herself growing cold by the blood loss that she was suffering and she swallowed when she saw Minerva approaching her again, discarding the sword to the side.

"Not bad. However, I'm not the twins. You'll have to do better than that."

Aria wasn't prepared by the unleashed attacks of Minerva. She couldn't even raise her arms in defense in time. The woman was capable of appearing from one place and then another. It was nothing like how Rogue did during their fight. She couldn't sense her. Somehow she kept getting blasted by various explosions that Minerva had created. She was really trying to dodge them, but her energy was running low at a fast pace.

She found herself on the floor as her arms shook as she tried to get up, "Answer me this Minerva… why have you hated me all your life? What did I ever do to you?"

She snarled as she kicked her, "You were born! You ruined everything in my life!"

Aria coughed blood, "I didn't do anything to you… your family always hated me…"

Minerva let out an enraged scream as she grabbed her by the throat and hurled her towards a wall. The concrete wall cracked under the force, but before Aria could crumple to the ground, Minerva caught her with her magic and held her against it. She could barely keep her eyes open.

Minerva punched her in the gut, "I think it's time that we have a little chat, a _family_ chat. I'm tired of looking at you and seeing how clueless you are. Your mother had a relationship with a man when she was married. She almost destroyed her marriage and brought shame to her family! Then you … then _you_ were born… and when I was born my life became hell because of you!"

She wrapped her hand around Aria's throat and squeezed. Aria gasped and she tried to push her away as she rasped out, "What are you talking about?"

Minerva screamed again, creating a wave of magic that destroyed more rubble around them. She threw Aria on the ground as she screamed, an insane look in her eyes.

" _I hate you because you're my half sister!"_

Aria's eyes went wide with horror and disbelief.

* * *

Future Lucy was able to start guiding them through a deeper ground corridor to get them out of the castle before the dragons could come. She told them that they had gotten recaptured in the future and had been unable to use magic because they had been too close to the Eclipse Door. So, she wanted to prevent that from happening.

Loke has appeared alongside Lucy to assist them and as they ran, they came across the Royal Army. Future Lucy was confused because they weren't supposed to be there at all. She couldn't help but feel that something was going wrong. The rest of them got battle ready, knowing that they had no choice but to force their way out. They had wanted the less altercations as possible due to the fight that they broke Lucy and Yukino out of the Royal prison.

Tessa raised a glass wall to deter them so they could form a plan and that's when they realized that Arcadios and Yukino were no longer with them.

Mira quickly started to run the way they had come from, "I'll look for them!"

Tessa waited until Mira was at a good distance and then dropped the barrier. Herself, Natsu, and Loke rushed towards the guards and started to attack them. Natsu's flames were flickering and Loke's Regulus Impact was shining brightly as he attacked the enraged soldiers. Panther Lily transformed again and quickly positioned himself in front of Lucy since Loke was occupied with his own soldiers.

The Army brought their Anti-Magic squad, but it had been futile.

" _Glass Dragon Wing Attack!"_ Tessa cried out. The glass pieces flickered as they connected with the soldiers.

"How many more are there?" She angrily growled as she brought out her lance and stopped the incoming blades of the soldiers.

"There's way too many. We are never going to get out at this rate!" Lucy said worriedly.

But their luck wasn't on their side as suddenly, the Hungry Wolf Knights appeared. They were covered in scratches and bruises, but in their eyes was the determination of capturing them again.

"Bunch of stubborn bastards!" Natsu growled as the flame of his fist grew.

* * *

"Master they need to stop the match! She's going to kill her!" Levy cried out.

Makarov could only stare at the screen in horror. Aria's screams were beyond horrifying. After Minerva had revealed them being half sisters, the territorial mage had gone on a rampage. It was ten times worse than what she did to Lucy. The amount of blood he could see… it was making him sick.

He swallowed the knot in his throat, "The only rules of today's match is to collect points of the defeated opponents."

Freed's eyes widened, "You cannot mean-"

"If she dies right now it'll be within the game's regulations. There's nothing we can do."

Bickslow pushed his way to the front, "COME ON ARIA!"

"FIGHT HER!" Evergreen screamed with tears going down her face. The guild couldn't lose her. She couldn't lose her. She was starting to see her like a sister. Someone she could rely due to being surrounded by men in their team. But she also was crying for Tessa. The woman would be beyond devastated, that even Gajeel wouldn't be able to help her if she lost Aria like this.

* * *

The echoes of her screams filled with horrific pain were bouncing off the walls in the arena. Gajeel had just defeated Rogue and as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath after the amount of magic he used for using Rogue's shadow, he heard her. He didn't know where the sound was coming from so he couldn't even track her.

"Come on girl…"

* * *

"I have to go and help her," Erza said with urgency. The three women being the closest of where Aria was fighting Minerva could hear the screams more clearly.

"You told her it was her fight," Kagura said as she ripped her skirt to bandage Erza's leg, "You need to have faith in her then. If she's from Fairy Tail, she's going to win."

The sun setting was upon them, but the bloody red sky started to get filled with dark gray clouds, almost black. The sky rumbled and there was a flicker of light within them.

The rain started to fall and Erza looked at the sky, "You're right…"

* * *

Laxus was in the middle of fighting the monster of Fiore, Jura, when the sky darkened. He could have sworn he heard her scream through the wind that started to pick up.

 _What's going on,_ he thought as he blocked an attack, _Aria…_

* * *

Gray looked up at the sky as the water fell harder. He knew he heard her scream. Something was wrong.

* * *

 _I don't have the strength to fight her… I've lost so much blood…_

Minerva gave her a final kick, giving her a break from the hell she was bringing upon her, "You were born with an incredible amount of power. My father was furious, seeing the child of another man holding so much strength. So when I was born, he pushed me. Pushed me to become stronger than you."

Aria raised her head, trying to support her body "But… the lacrima… she told me it was for me to become stronger."

Minerva scoffed, "She put the lacrima in you because it was a remainder of your father. He got the lacrima from a job, where his injuries were so bad he was on his deathbed. He wrote a letter stating to send the lacrima to Marcea if he died," her face turned to disgust, "My father had placed a spell on you, for you to not use your magic because he didn't want you becoming stronger than his own offspring. My father had no clue Marcea put the lacrima in you."

"But he was there-"

"She used illusion magic remember?"

Aria was pushing herself up more and she could see the trails of blood going down her arms like tiny rivers, "She hated me. She despised me!"

"She despised you because you were a remainder of what she lost. She couldn't bring herself to outright kill you because you had _his_ eyes. She thought the lacrima would kill you, but it didn't. Everything that Jiemma and herself said about you not being strong enough was all a lie. You lived an illusion your entire life! It's time to face the reality. I _am_ stronger than you. Even if you have that stupid dragon lacrima in you, you are nothing. You killed our mother and your father is dead. You have nothing Aria."

A deadly expression settled in her face as she looked at Aria's scar, "You're about to die anyways, might as well take a prize for myself."

Aria grunted as Minerva lifted her in the air. Minerva placed her hand a few inches away from her scar and her hand glowed. Aria gasped as she could feel the lacrima moving.

She couldn't scream anymore, Minerva had used her like a serious punching bag. But the pain she could feel was worse than getting stabbed with a sword or being thrown around. She could see herself going inside a tunnel as her body was becoming numb. She liked it. She couldn't feel anything anymore. There was nothing else to fight for, right?

Various gasps were heard from the audience and her guild when her head just slumped. Minerva's evil smirk widened and she stopped.

"I don't want your lacrima anymore. I think I've accomplished what I wanted."

She removed her magic that was lifting Aria's body. The body landed on the ground, with no sign of life.

" **It…. It seems that the battle is over… Sabertooth just won one more point… I can't even bring myself to say it with enthusiasm."**

Evergreen screamed in terror. Elfman had just enough time to catch her as she uncontrollably sobbed and continued to scream. Levy was shaking as she could see the unmoving body of Aria on the screen. Freed wrapped his arms around her, his own sorrow filling his body. That's all it took for the tears to fall down her face and she gripped his coat as she cried against his chest. Bisca and Alzack had to grab their daughter, turning her away from the screen, their faces pale. The crowd wasn't cheering either. Bickslow couldn't hold it and his own tears fell. Cana was crying as well, but she leaned on him to support him. Makarov was at a loss of words, his eyes welling up in tears as he remembered the first day he met Aria.

She had come so far. She had achieved so much.

Thunder rumbled loudly as the rain fell harder, and he couldn't help but think that even the sky was weeping as well.

Minerva had won and killed Aria.

* * *

Tessa wasn't sure what to think. One moment they were fighting the Royal Army and the Hungry Wolf Knights. Then they were suddenly swallowed by dark shadows in the ground. A man with half of his hair white and the rest black, bangs falling over one of his red eyes while the rest of his hair was in a high ponytail appeared.

Rogue.

He was Rogue from the future.

He went on to say more regarding the issues with the dragons, but something wasn't right.

He acted so fast, Tessa didn't have time to put up a shield.

A sword of dark shadows was sent at incredible speed towards Lucy, but her future self got in front of the impact and blood splattered everywhere. She was shocked and disturbed by the sight. Lucy held her future self as blood continued coming out of the wound. Wendy tried stopping the blood loss, but it was too much.

It didn't matter that it was a Lucy from the future. It was still their Lucy and she was dying in front of them. Tessa kneeled and pulled Wendy against her as her body shook with sobs that wanted to break out of her.

"I … I never… shut the door… D-Don't cry… I never thought I… I would see those that I cared about alive again… but here you are…"

Happy's cries were echoing as he begged her to be strong and not to go.

Tessa lost it when Future Lucy asked Lucy to see her guildmark one last time and slowly, she heard her say, "I wish I could've gone on… another adventure…"

Tessa was holding Wendy so tight as they both sobbed when they heard her final wish, "Pro...t...ect...th..e… fu..t...ur...e"

Tessa felt the dark magic rising in the air again and this time she was ready. She let go of Wendy even though she herself was still crying. Rogue was going on a rant, of Lucy closing the door although her future self didn't. He unleashed an attack but a wall of fire intercepted it and Natsu let out an anguished cry as a wave of flames shot out of his fist towards Rogue.

"NOBODY IS GOING TO STEAL LUCY'S FUTURE FROM HER! I PROMISE YOU THAT!"


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Enough

Natsu's scream of rage brought a fear that Tessa never thought she would feel because of him. He was always so light hearted, friendly, full of life. She had seen him in fight mode before, but this was so much different than any other fight.

He was infuriated with the loss of Future Lucy. That was _his_ Lucy. Seeing the life leaving her eyes and the blood pour out of her freely had made him lose control. He had never felt such rage. Not in this way at least. All that was replaying in his head was every single adventure they had gone on together. From the moment he met her, when she received the guild mark that she so oh adored, to every single fight where she was by his side.

Always believing in him to overcome the impossible.

Always believing that he would be there to save her.

But this time he couldn't protect her.

He could feel his inner dragon a millimeter away from being unleashed. He didn't care of the reasons why Rogue did what he did. He just wanted revenge. Revenge for what he did to _his Lucy_.

Lucy was shaking non stop. Anyone that would see her would think that she was freezing by the goosebumps on her arms and the way her body was trembling. How she wished it was something as simple as being cold. She saw herself die in her arms and Natsu was filled with a serious rage. She didn't know what to make of it. She was frozen in her spot.

There was a slight opening for a second and Rogue took that opportunity. He sent a dark attack her way, but this time Tessa was ready. She raised a shield immediately as the tears kept coming down her face, and when the dark attack faded, she dropped it. She took a step forward, but Natsu turned to her and she could literally see the fire in his eyes.

"Take them away. I'll take care of him."

She couldn't bring herself to argue with him. She just couldn't. Her green eyes immediately landed on the dead form of Lucy on the floor. She knew she couldn't bring the body with her. However, she couldn't just leave her there either. With a shiver running down her spine, Tessa raised her hand and a beautiful glass box covered Lucy's entire body, protecting her from further harm to her lifeless body.

"Let's go!" Tessa cried out as she helped Lucy up. Loke, Wendy, and the exceeds followed her lead with no hesitation.

 _You have to win this Natsu_ , Tessa thought as they ran down the hall, _It's all on you!_

* * *

As the storm started to become more fierce, he couldn't help but feel unsettled. Something wasn't right.

 _She must have gone after her_ , he thought as he panted. Fighting Jura hadn't been easy. In a way he channeled the frustration, anger, and jealousy he had been feeling after what Minerva said and Aria admitting she had indeed, spent the night with Sting.

Jura wanted a fight and he gave it to him. That had been the perfect way to let out his anger.

Through the dark clouds in the dark sky and through the heavy rain, he saw a light shooting up, taking the form of Sabertooth's guild mark.

Sting.

The anger he felt towards the younger slayer settled inside him again. A burning hot jealousy, something he had never felt in his twenty three years of life, was wildly moving inside him.

 _Why him?_

But there was that voice in the back of his head that he should've heard her out. That there must've been a logical explanation. But the jealousy wouldn't let him think that.

Tired and injured, he followed the mark in the sky.

It didn't take as long as he thought it would take to reach where the other blonde was. He was waiting in the central plaza near the town's famous water fountain. Gajeel was the next one to arrive. By how serious the iron slayer's face was, he was thinking some of the stuff he was. He saw the score of Sabertooth go up by one point. Did that mean Aria lost?

The next one that arrived was Gray and Laxus could smell Aria's scent on him. Gray's eyes hardened as he knew what Laxus was asking, "She took off to find her."

Sting tried to push the concern he had over the thunder slayer and stood tall as he faced them. He had heard everything what Minerva said. What she implied. From where he had been standing, he saw the horror in the eyes of Aria as she looked at Laxus.

And now as Laxus stood in front of him and he could see the cold anger in his gray eyes.

A lot of Fairy Tail members had been his childhood heroes. Legendary mages in their own way. Specially Natsu. He had admired him for so long and he had the opportunity to fight him. But he lost. However, although Natsu wasn't there, this was his opportunity to shine. He he had to do this for Lector. This was all for him after all.

But Aria's words kept replaying in his head. And he knew it was true but he _had_ to do it.

Seconds became minutes that felt like hours, but it had been just a few minutes when Erza arrived using a piece of wood to support herself because of her injured leg. She was covered in several injuries and her leg was in horrible shape. She didn't say anything as she made her way to them in a single line as they were all staring at Sting.

He wanted to defeat them. He could just blow and they would topple over. But Aria wasn't there and that didn't sit well with him. His blue eyes connected with Erza's, "Where is she?"

Erza took a deep breath as she could feel Laxus staring at her too, waiting for a response.

"She got there before Minerva could stab Kagura. However… she got injured in the process. I left with Kagura and Milliana. We saw the scoreboard. We went back, but there were no signs of Minerva and Aria."

Laxus felt abnormally cold by this. Mavis' words echoed in his head. Aria's chances of surviving had been very minimal. There was no possible way that happened, right?

The alarm bells in his head went off, but he ignored them. His aura grew as he addressed them, "I will give you all the respect you deserve. After all, you all were my childhood heroes."

Erza's eyebrow shot up, "So you want to fight all four of us?"

Sting narrowed his eyes, "I have my reasons to win this. Which I will. For Lector. For myself."

Gajeel could feel anger spreading through his veins, _Screw what Aria asked of me last night._

"So you're just going to ignore what Aria told you? After what she did for you? Helping your drunk self as you were acting like an idiot, taking care of you, and begged you to not give in on Minerva's control? She could be fucking dead right now and you wouldn't give a damn."

Sting's eyes widened, "How do you kn-"

Gajeel's glare hardened, "She happens to be my mate's best friend. That makes her my little sister. She told me what she did for you and I fucking bet that she risked her life to save your furry friend."

Although there was a lot more to it, but that wasn't the point Gajeel was trying to make.

Sting's eyes widened more, if that was possible, as Gajeel's harsh words tore through his body. Could he really defeat them? If what he said was true…

He couldn't.

Laxus didn't know what to think. So Aria had helped Sting, nothing else?

He felt nauseous.

"So what is it kid? Are you going to come at us or what?" Gajeel angrily spat out.

Sting swallowed, but before he could open his mouth, Minerva's voice cut in.

"This is our opportunity Sting. Time for Sabertooth to rejoice and continue being the most powerful guild," her heels echoed as she came out of the shadows. Erza grunted as she put pressure on her leg, "Where is Aria?!"

Minerva smirked, "Oh, you mean my half sister? Here you go."

And just how she did it to Milliana, she did it with Aria's body. She threw her and her body just bounced lifeless. Gajeel rushed with Laxus and Gray not far behind as Erza limped as fast as she could. Gajeel carefully turned her body and placed his fingers on her neck.

Laxus saw his red eyes widened, "No…"

"There's no pulse-"

Laxus grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, "Check again!"

Gray shook his head as he had a hold of her wrist, "Stop!"

 _I'm not leaving you. I said I was going to stay by your side and that's exactly what—_

Erza let the stick go and she wrapped around Laxus' shoulders. She didn't care that Minerva was watching. She cried.

And as Laxus heard the powerful redhead cry from behind him as she held him, the realization set in.

Aria was gone.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he went to pick up her body and place her on his lap. Gajeel kept having flashbacks of Edolas, but he had been lucky enough to have Tessa back, and that was thanks to the woman that now laid dead on the blonde's arms.

Because of her, he knew happiness and as ridiculous as it sounded, love as well. She gave him back the greatest gift of his life, but she was gone now.

Minerva was enjoying every second of what was going on in front of her. She walked up to Sting and placed her hands on his shoulders, "Look at them at how pathetic they are. This is it Sting. We can wipe them out-"

"I forfeit."

Sting's reply echoed and although the other four were mourning, they looked up shocked.

Minerva turned him around, "What are you doing?!"

He stepped away from her, "No. I'm not going to do this. You already killed her."

"What about Lector? Don't you want to see him?"

"Lector is with Milliana," Erza said, her voice holding strong as she felt they were about to face against Minerva, "When you gave her back to us, their energy bubbles merged. He's with her and he's okay."

Minerva's rage grew. She pushed Sting away as she raised her hand towards them, "I'll take you on myself. You're all battered anyways!"

Lightning came down from the sky and landed on her. She screamed in pain as she teleported to another section of the plaza, but lightning kept going after her. Gajeel turned to Laxus, and he was shocked seeing that the man had his eyes closed as he continued to hold on to her body. Even with the rain however, he could see the tears falling down his cheeks.

Minerva screamed again, but as she attacked, Sting blocked the rest of the group from it.

"Stand down Sting," Erza said, "She's not your enemy. She is Fairy Tail's."

He shook his head, "You can barely stand!"

Erza shook her head as she limped towards him, "No."

Minerva attacked again, but Erza was gone in a flash. She appeared in front of Minerva, with two long daggers in hand and slashed. Minerva raised her arms in defense as she was pushed back. She went at her again, but another shot of lightning came down, creating a distance between her and Erza.

Erza's aura grew, "The sorrow and anger I feel is that of my guild's! _Second Origin Release!"_

Laxus couldn't bring himself to look up even as he heard the explosion of Erza unleashing her strength. He wanted to get up and bring down Minerva himself. But he couldn't. He gripped Aria's body tighter and his body shook more.

She would never smile again.

She would never pick a fight.

He could never tell her how he really felt.

He heard Erza attacking again and he knew it was over. They won.

But they lost.

* * *

They had been hiding in the bushes for a while, watching the Princess and the Royal Army getting prepared to open the Eclipse Gate. The moon could barely be seen through the dark clouds. They were soaked.

Tessa was feeling extremely angst ever since she left Natsu a few hours ago. She felt she should've stayed with him. Her eyes perked up when she heard the princess commanding for the gate to open. She noticed the blonde next to her swallowing nervously. She knew why. Lucy could only play Rogue's words in her head.

However, Arcadios finally spotted them and motioned them to come forward. Tessa was still extremely mad that the Princess had been the one to lock them up, but she was surprised when her Royal Highness apologized sincerely to them.

"Why are you preparing the cannon? The dragons are not even here yet," Lucy questioned as her chocolate brown eyes turned to the sky.

Princess Hisui blinked in surprise, "You know?"

All of them nodded.

"Future Lucy is the one that told us about the dragons," Tessa answered solemnly, "Rogue wasn't the only one that traveled through the gate."

Hisui's emerald eyes looked around, "Where is she?" It didn't sound right to her.

Lucy shook her head, "Future Rogue… killed her. He said she was a threat for closing the gate."

The princess' face looked sour, "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how hard that must've been. But… I have to ask this. Will you close the gate?"

Lucy's eyes widened in shock and then turned into anger, "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I have no intentions of closing the gate if it's going to help us!"

Wendy grabbed her hand immediately, in hopes of cooling down the blonde.

Carla looked at the princess, "Are you certain this will work? Ten thousand dragons isn't something to take so lightly."

She hesitated for a moment, "The gate has never been tested but it's a project that has been worked for for so long. I'm sure it will perform what it's supposed to. However, the King, my father, is taking more forms of precaution and is asking the help of all the guilds."

Her pretty face smiled at them, "I must congratulate you. Fairy Tail won the games," Tessa, Wendy, Lucy, Carla, Happy, and Lily immediately started to smile and cheer. However the smile on her face slowly fell, "But…" she bit her lip as she looked at Arcadios. She couldn't finish what she wanted to say.

Lucy noticed and her smile fell, "Princess?"

"What happened?" Lily asked as he hopped on Tessa's shoulder who was just as confused.

Arcadios cleared his throat, "An unfortunate incident occurred. I'm sure you are all aware of the rules of the event today?"

"A battle royale," Tessa said immediately, still trying to understand what they were trying to tell them.

He nodded seriously, "The only rules of the event were to obtain the points of opponents. Other than that, there were no rules."

"What are you trying to say?" Carla cut in.

"I am so sorry," the Princess finally spoke, "But it seems that one of your members lost their life."

They all gasped as their eyes widened. Tessa kept telling herself it wasn't Gajeel because she would've felt it. Wendy's eyes started to well up in tears immediately.

Happy's voice cut in, shaking in fear, "Who?"

Arcadios and the Princess share a look, until she finally bowed her head, "I'm so sorry. It was Aria Krane."

Lucy and Wendy gasped and their eyes immediately went to Tessa, who's green eyes were wide. Lily gripped her shoulder tighter.

Tessa shook her head as she couldn't wrap around what they had told her, "N-No. You are wrong. She can't be dead. You must be confusing her with someone else," the tears started to fall as she looked at her friends, "Tell them they're wrong!" she shouted in denial.

"Our reports say it was during the battle against Minerva Orland," Arcadios said softly, "I'm very sorry."

Tessa fell to her knees. She could feel the others trying to talk to her, but she couldn't focus on them. Memories of years spent with her kept playing over and over.

 _ **Hey, girl. What are you doing here?**_

 _ **I… I can't find… my ...sniff...mom…**_

… _**Let's go. I'll help you look for her.**_

 _ **Don't you have a family?**_

 **A chuckle** _ **, You can be my family now.**_

 _No… please God no…_

 _ **Dammit Aria! This was my favorite shirt!**_

 _ **Stop being such a princess! Come on! The mud is so pretty!**_

 _ **Mud is not pretty!**_

 _You are not supposed to leave me,_ she covered her face with her trembling hands.

 _ **Did… did I really kill her?**_

 _ **Yeah… you did…**_

 _ **I want to feel sad, but I can't. She was never family. You are my family. I protect my family. I don't regret a thing.**_

 _Aria…_

 _ **I don't care. If they're offering help, to help you, I will drag you myself for them to put the guild mark on you. It's been too long Aria. You can't live like that. You can't hide what you are anymore. You can't run away from your past.**_

 _No more snarky remarks… no more smiles…_

 _ **We are always going to be sisters Tessa.**_

While still being on her knees, she raised her arms and brought down her fists on the concrete, cracking it as the most horrible scream filled with sorrow and pain broke out and echoed all over the courtyard.

" _ARIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

* * *

They all stood around the bed, where her lifeless form laid. She was clean now, no more blood stuck to her skin. Just bruises and bandages graced her body.

It was still unreal to them. She was supposed to be jumping up and down with joy, to celebrate their victory. She was supposed to be bragging about her battle, she was supposed to be laughing and cracking jokes with Gajeel and Gray. She was supposed to be picking fights with Laxus.

The others weren't sure how to console Erza, Laxus, and Gajeel. Erza felt an overwhelming guilt. She felt responsible for her death. She should've have at least stayed with her, not just completely abandon her after she was stabbed with Kagura's sword. She had beaten Minerva to a pulp, but nothing would bring Aria back.

Gajeel had been attached to her. After all, he had said it. She had been like a sister to him and he owed her so much. He couldn't imagine how his mate would take the news. He thought she would've won.

Levy couldn't help but look at Laxus. He wasn't crying. He was like a statue, sitting on a chair with his forehead leaning against his closed fists. He had carried her body with such care that she really knew right there and there, that he had loved her.

There was a knock on the door and Cana opened it quietly. It was Sting, Rogue, Kagura, and Milliana.

Makarov approached them, his eyes red from the tears he had shed, "Children, what brings you here?"

Sting wasn't looking at him, he was staring at her body. Rogue nodded his head at the master, "We wanted to pay our condolences."

Makarov nodded, "Thank you."

Kagura was going to open her mouth when there were the first signs of life from Laxus.

"Get the fuck away from her."

"You don't order me around!"

"Fuck-"

"She wasn't y-"

"ENOUGH!" Levy screamed. The two blondes stopped their arguing and looked at the small woman who was shaking in tears.

She turned to Laxus and slapped him as he had been shouting at Sting from his chair, "How could you do this right now?" She didn't wait for an answer as he turned his head towards her, his cheek bright red with her handprint on it, "Can't you leave your fucking pride outside for once? You're not the only one that's mourning her or that loved her! She was part of our family!"

His eyes flashed, "I did-"

"Finish that goddam sentence and I swear to God Laxus," she threatened as her eyes became angrier, "Sting is here to pay his respects. She was someone important to him too. Kagura is here as well, are you going to flip out on her too? I don't fucking think so."

Silence fell upon the room then. No one could bring themselves to say something after Levy's outburst. The door was then opened and Porlyusica came in.

"The King is asking for all the guilds to go to the main garden here in the city," she cleared her throat, "It is with great urgency."

Cana shook her head, "We can't leave Aria."

"The entire city is under evacuation. I will be with her the whole time."

Freed looked confused, "Evacuation for what?"

Milliana shook her head, "We don't know. That was another reason why we came too."

Laxus turned to her body again, but as he was opening his mouth, the old witch approached him.

"Go. All of you. I will be with her."

They all slowly walked out, leaving a part of their hearts behind.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Flight

Two hours went by after the news of Aria's death. Every now and then, they could still hear small whimpers from the woman as she sat by herself on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees with her head against them. Wendy occasionally would cry as well and Lucy would just hold her. Panther Lily was near Tessa, but still giving her space. He really didn't know how to comfort her. Carla felt helpless. She couldn't understand why she hadn't had a vision of her death. She felt that if she had it under better control, that maybe she would've been able to prevent the tragic event. Happy had been silent the entire time. He had cried a lot as well, but now he felt numb.

What else could happen now?

The low groaning of metal doors opening brought them out of their thoughts. Even Tessa raised her head and squinted her eyes but all she could see was a thick white fog and a white light as the doors slowly opened. She couldn't make out what was in the other side.

As the doors opened more and a gust of wind came out, Tessa felt a shiver run down her spine. Probably the first thing she felt after finding out the news. Just thinking about it was making her chest hurt. She continued to stare as the doors continued to open, when suddenly, her senses started going crazy in her head as bells of alarms were going off. Something wasn't right.

The bells echoed all across Crocus to signal that it was midnight. The eclipse shone up in the sky, its bright orange and red hues visible for everyone to see even through the scattered dark clouds. Thunder rumbled loudly and she could feel her eyes burning again at the sound of it.

Once the doors were wide open, Lucy seemed to enter a trance and slowly started to walk towards the doors.

Tessa swallowed the lump in her throat, "Lucy?"

"What are you doing?" Wendy asked since Lucy had abruptly pushed her away.

"Close it! We can't let the gate to be opened! Stop it!"

Her voice carried with the wind and Tessa felt her bare arms raise with goosebumps.

The Princess stared at Lucy with a shocked expression, "What are you saying? This is the only shot we have to defeat the dragons! Don't you understand that the kingdom, our world is in danger?"

"We don't have much time!" Lucy desperately argued, "Please princess it has to be closed!"

But the princess wasn't budging.

"It's not a weapon! It contains points in time!" She insisted.

Arcadios stepped forward, "That is enough! Remember you're in the presence of the princess!"

Lucy's voice was shaking, "This gate is an opening to four hundred years in the past!"

The moment the words came out of her mouth, something like a step made the earth rumble underneath them, like a small earthquake. They froze and soon it was followed by similar steps.

Carla's eyes widened, "What is that?"

Tessa's green eyes widened with horror and fear as a shadow was making its way out of the gate.

A dragon.

Once its body came out fully out of the gate it let out a roar. Its fangs were huge as its gray scales seemed to shine. The ferocity of its roar sent all of them almost flying and with each step it took, the ground crumbled. Flashes of Acnologia kept flashing through their heads as for them, it had barely been a few months since they faced off the dark dragon.

She heard the panic voices of the soldiers as they were at loss of words or plans on what to do. The dragons were supposed to be coming from the sky, not the gate itself.

"Arcadios! What can we do? We do not have a shield strong enough to stop them!"

That's when Tessa got up. She had lost a huge part of herself that no one would ever have a clue. She had been her everything, her only family, for years. They had overcome so much together. She would be telling her to get up and face the dragons.

She felt her magic energy increasing as she activated her diamond skill. She wiped the last tears that fell and she sprinted forward, passing everyone. She raised her hands and shouted, " _Diamond Dragon Ultimate Wall!"_

Several layers of diamond like walls appeared, stopping from the gray dragon from continuing further. It roared, pissed that its path had been blocked. It raised its head and slammed it against it.

She winced as she turned her head to them, "Figure how to close this thing! I don't know for how long I can hold them back!"

Lucy whirled around since she had followed Tessa and she placed her hands on the Princess, "How do I close it?!"

The princess was in shock and couldn't respond. Hearing Tessa hiss from behind her, Lucy shook the princess.

"My friend is going to get killed by putting up that wall! HOW DO I CLOSE IT?!"

The princess stared at her in shock and with a shaky finger, she pointed to her left, "S-sorry! That pedestal over there!"

Barefooted, she ran towards the pedestal, forgetting the pain of her injured feet, and got a hold of the handle.

Three more layers of diamond broke and Tessa winced as sweat dripped down her forehead, "I can't hold it for much longer… It's too strong…"

She could hear Lucy explaining to Wendy how she knew the gate needed to be closed. The gate contained magic from the book of Zeref combined with celestial spirit magic.

Tessa's hands were shaking, "That's why Rogue wanted to kill her- AGH!"

More dragons came out and simultaneously, destroyed the wall, sending Tessa hurling through the air. Lily reacted quickly and caught her in mid air with a grunt. The dragons roared again as they made their way out and took flight immediately. With each roar, buildings all over the city were getting destroyed.

Lucy couldn't close the gate. She was straining the muscles of her arms as she pulled the lever, but it wasn't at least budging. Another dragon came out, and when it roared, the wind had been too strong that she couldn't hold on and was sent through the air and landing on the ground harshly.

"Lily! Fly me to Lucy! We must cover her!"

The exceed conceded and Tessa immediately protected Lucy from the strong winds of the dragon steps by giving her a clear path by creating a set of stairs. Lucy ran up quickly over the bridge and jumped down to the pedestal again and took a hold of the handle again.

Arcadios was staring at Lucy wide eyed, "She doesn't have the enough celestial power to do it!"

And it was like prayers were answered, as in that moment Mira was running to them with Yukino by her side. She instructed Lucy to take out her zodiac keys, that the only way to close the gate was to combine their powers.

Tessa could only stare wide eyed as all twelve zodiac keys formed a circle above the girls and all the spirits were summoned for the first time together this way. A bright golden light in a shape of a circle was around the girls as their magic combined. It was beyond breathtaking. With their power and strength, six spirits took a hold of one door and the other half of the other. They pushed strongly as their magical energy shone to close the gate. She could see the spirits using all of their strength to do what their friends were asking of them.

However, as they were closing it, a dragon was trying to come out and was pushing against it.

"Oh no you're not!" Tessa yelled out as she extended her arms, her hands creating a diamond shape, " _DIAMOND DRAGON CLUB!"_

A club in the shape of a diamond extended and grew in size from her hands, directly onto the face of the dragon, trying to push him in as the spirits closed the door. She felt herself getting pushed back until she felt arms behind her and small paws on her legs.

"We got you!" Mira said from behind her as she supported her. With a final cry, Tessa pushed the dragon back in and the spirits were successful to close the gate.

"You guys did it!" Wendy cried out happily, the first moment she felt anything more than sadness. The soldiers cheered but Arcadios quickly stop them, "How many dragons made it out?"

"8 dragons sir!"

Tessa was helping Lucy up when a familiar scent hit her nose. Her eyes widened and she put herself between both celestial spirits and the familiar figure she could see through the smoke.

"I know you're there Rogue!"

Future Rogue chuckled, "Impressive nose you have," his red eyes landed on Lucy, "You just had to go ahead and ruin my plan didn't you? No matter. I'm sure with eight dragons will be enough to wipe you out."

"Where is Natsu?" Lucy asked angrily.

Rogue smirked, "Last I saw him, he was getting swallowed by shadows."

Tessa growled in warning at him.

"That's the traitor," Hisui said with fear in her eyes, "He's the one that told me the lies about the eclipse!"

"What do you mean enough?" Mira asked him as she slowly got in a battle stance.

"Ten thousand dragons are too many to control. Eight will be sufficient to wipe everything you have ever known," he raised his arms and his voice grew in volume, "I HEREBY PROCLAIM THIS THE END OF THE ERA OF THE HUMAN RACE! THIS WILL BE THE ERA OF DRAGONS!"

The dragons roared loudly in the sky.

He lowered his arms, "I ORDER YOU TO KILL EVERY SINGLE WIZARD! DESTROY THEM!"

The dragons moved around in a circle in the sky and took off in different directions. The first dragon that had come through the gate, landed behind Rogue.

Tessa glared, "How are you able to control them?"

Rogue laughed as he was being lifted by the dragon. Then, Zarconis, the same dragon they saw at the graveyard, was hovering over them. Tessa felt torn. She wanted to go after Rogue but she couldn't leave Lucy and the others. She couldn't find herself to think straight.

But who else could go after Rogue? Everyone else would be too busy with the rest of the dragons on the city.

She turned to Mira as she reached a conclusion. She was beyond powerful and she knew they would be okay with her there, "You think you can help them?"

Mira nodded, "What are you doing?"

Tessa turned to Lily, "I need your help. We are going after Rogue."

Lucy shook her head, "That's too dangerous! You heard what he said about Natsu!"

Her green eyes flashed in anger, "He's not dead. We need to buy him some time. Rogue is the key to the dragons, he's capable of controlling them."

Wendy ran up to her and wrapped her arms around her tightly, "Please be careful. I've lost a sister already. I don't want to lose you too!"

Tessa hugged her, and as she pulled away, she gave her a smile. She noticed the confused look Mira gave Wendy and she swallowed, "Aria is gone. She went after Minerva during the games and didn't make it."

She turned around and sprinted as her long lance appeared in her hand. She didn't want to see Mira's reaction. It would just make her more sad. When she jumped up in the air, she felt Lily grabbing her. As he soared upwards in the air, he shouted at her, "You think this is a wise idea?"

Her gaze landed on all other dragons down on the city, "Probably not. But I don't have a choice. I have to do this," she took a deep breath, "We can't let more people lose their lives."

Lily flew faster as he finally soared above the dragon where Rogue stood. He let her go and with a battle cry, she raised her lance over her head and stroke Rogue as raised his arms in defense. He pushed her, and as he kicked her, she had flipped away. As she was crouching low on the ground. She threw a series of diamond daggers at him. He dodged them, until one barely grazed his cheek, making it bleed. She was on him again, slashing him with her sword as he blocked the attacks.

"I've got to say I'm impressed. But do you really want to do this? Your death will eventually mean his."

She swallowed as she held his menacing gaze. Her long beautiful golden brown hair blew with the wind as her grip on her sword tightened. Her clothes were ripped already, but she stood before him in pride. She shoved him away from her and pointed her sword at him.

"Are you going to keep talking or fight me?"

* * *

Porlyusica was going back and forth with her plan. It was probably a bad idea. She knew she would be messing with the orders of life. The dead should stay dead.

But she could feel the horror all over Crocus. If something wasn't done, the dragons would leave the city and destroy others and kill thousands. She wasn't sure of the probabilities of Cobra from the Oracion Seis joining the fight, but she knew how another dragon slayer could join the fight as well.

She looked at the body that was wrapped with a sheet as the two soldiers carried her in a stretcher. Although there was no heartbeat, she could still feel her magical presence.

And maybe, just maybe, her plan could work.

She pulled out a small bottle from her robes, barely two inches tall, and as she held it, its luminescent glow was reflecting from her hands. She took a deep breath and then she looked at the soldiers.

"Follow me."

One looked at the other, "Ma'am, we can't leave the body-"

"Bring the body you fools."

They hesitantly followed her to another direction of the mountain range they had been walking on. Once she felt they were at a good distance from those that were being evacuated, she told them to leave.

"I'm sorry but we have specific instructions-"

"I said leave you wretched human. The fate of humanity is at stake. Leave or you may be blasted. Go with the other evacuees, make sure they're safe."

They were unsure of leaving the old woman with a dead body, but there were other priorities. So, they left without another word.

She sighed as she walked up to the body and pulled down the sheet, to reveal her face.

Now, she just hoped her plan would work.

* * *

Tessa was panting as she blocked another one of Rogue's attacks. He was extremely strong and powerful, but she knew she had to continue fighting him. He had tried blowing her away by having his dragon fly faster, but thanks to Lily, Rogue was never successful.

" _Diamond Dragon Roar!"_

The attack collided as she heard Rogue scream. Just as she was getting ready to prepare another attack, he had used his shadow mode and appeared behind her and Lily. He hit both of them on their backs, sending them flying and painfully landing on the scales of the gray dragon. Tessa bounced more, painfully grunting as she grabbed on to the last second of the edge.

She was hanging by one hand on the scales of the dragon when Rogue stood above her.

He smirked evilly, but just as he was about to strike her, something behind her caught his attention. Her eyes widened when a blur of fire appeared and knocked Rogue out, giving her the opportunity to climb up the dragon again.

She felt relieved and happy, "Natsu!"

He grinned at her as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead, "Good job Tessa!"

But Natsu's friendliness faded with the wind as he glared at Rogue, "Why are you doing this?"

"It is quite simple, really," He started as he got up, "But in my time, Acnologia still exists. I tried using dragon tamer magic but it was useless against him. So, I decided to come back to the past, bring out dragons and control them to defeat Acnologia! Because I will be the new Dragon King of this era!"

Tessa all of a sudden sprinted and materialized her two swords. Rogue, thinking that the attack was for him, moved out of the way.

With strength she didn't know she had, she stabbed the dragon on the back of its neck and her magic exploded.

"What are you doing?!" Rogue asked angrily. Natsu grinned and decided to deliver an attack of his own. Flames appeared on his fists as he jumped in the air and slammed them together on the dragon's back. His cry for help echoed all over the city.

" _ **ALRIGHT LISTEN UP! THERE'S EIGHT DRAGONS AND THERE'S NINE DRAGON SLAYERS! LET'S STOP MESSING AROUND AND LET'S GO DRAGON HUNTING!"**_

Motherglare roared in pain and Rogue gave Natsu a confused look, "I knew you were stupid but your math is beyond wrong. There's only seven dragon slayers."

"I hear one coming!"

Rogue smirked, "That's eight."

Tessa shook her head at Natsu, "It's only eight of us, Aria-"

She gasped as Rogue had moved so quickly that he delivered a painful punch on her stomach, knocking her off the dragon. Lily was barely to catch her before she crashed onto the spikes of the roof of a building.

"That was a little too close for comfort," she said with a wince.

"Do you want me to take you back up there?"

She could see Natsu powering up, "No. He could take it from here. We should find the others."

As they were getting away, they heard Rogue commanding his dragon. They turned around and their eyes widened with horror as hundreds of eggs were laid out all throughout the city.

* * *

He could feel the heat of the dragon. He could feel a small trail of sweat going down his back from it. At least it was making him feel something. The roar was almost as strong as Acnologia's as it started to torment his guild. They had decided to cover the south area of the city and a dragon covered in flames, Atlas Flame, decided to have that area as its destroying grounds.

He could hear his guildmates shouting in encouragement to Juvia and Gray, but soon that was followed by screams as Atlas Flame retaliated. He had heard what Natsu said, but he really couldn't find the will to remove himself from the wall two alleys down from where the dragon was.

"Laxus!" Levy said as she held on to her arm as she came to the alley way, "I've been looking for you! We need you out there!"

But Laxus didn't budge. He turned his head to her, "You here to slap me again?"

Levy blushed, embarrassed to be reminded of her previous outburst, "I'm not going to apologize for that. But we need you. You heard Natsu! That dragon is too strong, only a dragon slayer can defeat it. You and Gajeel can work together. Your grandfather is facing off against it!"

A small glimmer of concern appeared in his eyes, "The old man can handle it then."

She shook her head as she looked at him pleadingly, "No. You know what happened with Acnologia. Do you want the same thing to happen again? What if this time you lose him?"

And he knew he couldn't live with that. It was already bad enough she was gone, he couldn't jeopardize his old man.

He removed himself against the wall and started walking. Levy let out a sigh of relief as she followed him.

"She's cheering for you!"

He jumped up to the roof, and that's when he saw the titan form of his Grandfather trying to fight Atlas Flame. The heat was stronger from where he stood. As he saw the flames rising from the body of the dragon, he could see bright amber flames at the tips. It resembled so much her eye color. His chest tightened painfully at the thought.

He felt beyond disgusting and like a cockroach as he thought of the last words he had told her. He had been so angry. So full of jealousy that it had blinded him for a moment. But now, as he thought of it, all he could see was her heart shattering in pieces, just like the buildings around the city. The pain of how his words struck her.

Now he could remember it. And he felt even worse.

The scream of Makarov being flung snapped him out of his painful memories. His grandfather was no longer in titan form, and was pitifully holding his injured hand.

 _Come on Sparky, go dragon huntin'!_

His eyes widened as he looked around, but of course, there was nothing. He clenched his jaw and closed his fist, as his magic started to crackle around him.

In a flash, he was on the other side and slammed his fist against the side of the dragon's head. The dragon roared in pain as it slammed against a building due to the force of the impact. The others cheered, and he turned to see the smaller dragons surrounding them.

"I'll take the big guy," he said as he removed his coat, "Take care of the little ones."

Mavis nodded and she turned to Gajeel, "Look for another guild that's facing off a dragon that don't have a dragon slayer!"

The red eyed man nodded at her and immediately took off. Bickslow, Evergreen, and Freed flanked Laxus as he glared at Atlas Flames.

Dragon hunting it was.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: New Era

She waited several seconds, in hopes that the potion had done its effect.

But the longer she waited, the more she noticed that something wasn't right. She checked her vitals, but she couldn't feel a heartbeat.

She cursed as her eyes burned. It was supposed to have worked. She glared at the empty tiny bottle in her hand. It had been pointless.

Just as she was going to tell the soldiers that were hiding behind the trees to get her again, there was a powerful gush of wind, blowing everything away as a dragon flew by. She could only see with wide eyes Aria's body started to glow a bright light that blinded everyone that was near. As the light lessened, Porlyusica's eyes widened as Aria's body disappeared.

She took notice of the soldiers standing up after being knocked out, "Find her body!"

* * *

It took her a bit longer than she thought thanks to the new tiny dragons that were roaming the streets when she finally caught scent of her mate. She sprinted as Lily held on to her shoulder. The exceed had used a lot of his magic. The moment they had landed, she immediately told him to rest on her shoulder. As she ran through the destroyed streets of Crocus, she had her twin glass swords out, slashing at any of the dragon hatchlings. Her magic energy was lowering, so she decided to save her diamond technique until later.

When she turned on to the street, she saw Gajeel being thrown by the dragon he was fighting. She saw it raise its talon at him that she jumped and slashed the talon, making it land in another direction.

Gajeel's eyes widened and immediately grabbed her and pulled her close, "Where the fuck have you been?!"

She took in his scent and the warmth of his body as she closed her eyes as she held him back, "So much to tell you. The most recent?" She asked as she pulled away, "I was fighting Rogue."

Gajeel seemed confused, "What do you mean?"

Lily decided to intercept, "She's not talking about the Rogue you know. This one is from the future. He deceived the princess, filling her mind with lies about the gate."

"Lucy from the future warned us about the dragons," she quickly said as the dragon started to walk towards them, ignoring the confused look Gajeel gave her, "However, Future Rogue killed her, claiming that her closing the gate was a horrible thing. But that was another lie. I fought him long enough for Natsu to get back to him."

She was right, so much had happened. Even then other facts were missing too but it was not the time to share everything. Gajeel looked at her already injured body and to the dragon, "You shouldn't be here. Something happens to you and—"

She grabbed his face and pulled him down for a quick kiss.

"I'm your mate and I'm staying by your side. _Forever_. I've already lost so much tonight, I cannot lose you either."

His eyes widened as he could see the pain in her eyes, "You know?"

Her cheeks started to turn red and he could see the tears welling up in her eyes, "Yes. The Princess told us."

He wrapped his arms around her, to support her in her most difficult time. However, their moment was interrupted as the dragon roared at them. They pulled apart, and she quickly wiped her tears.

She opened her hand and a diamond sword appeared. This is why she wanted to save the energy. Diamond would prove to be stronger than glass to slice across the scales of a dragon. Gajeel looked at her confused, "Since when can you do that?"

She smiled at him, "Inside the castle. Let's do this!"

* * *

Laxus growled as the talons of Atlas Flames attempted to crush them. He could hear his team, shouting at him to get out of the way. He could barely hold them off, his muscles straining as he pushed it out of his way.

And eventually, long and behold, Natsu took Atlas Flames away.

As they ran to get to the Castle where Wendy was struggling with her dragon, Bickslow fell into step with him.

"You sure you can continue on?"

Laxus clenched his jaw as his heart felt like a thousand pounds.

 _You can because I'll always be there…_

His eyes widened as he looked around, but she was nowhere in sight. He growled internally. He needed to get his shit together. They continued running until ultimately, he finally caught the sight of the green dragon that Wendy was trying to avoid. He called out his Raging Bolt, which thankfully made direct contact.

Wendy panted as she looked at him, a small smile on her face to see him there to give her a hand. But their moment was interrupted as the eighth dragon that came out of the gate joined Zarconis.

"Let's go Wendy!"

* * *

"Tessa, _now_!" Gajeel growled out as he dove out of the way just as the dragon got ready a breath attack. When it let it go, it hit a mirror made out of diamond, reflecting it right back at it. It roared painfully as it shook his head.

Tessa panted as she dropped her arms, sweat going down her face, "And that's still isn't enough!"

Gajeel growled as he clenched his fists, "These damn lizards are stubborn."

She took a deep breath to recollect her thoughts. She waved her hand gracefully and her lance appeared before her, "We can't give up!"

Loud roaring in the skies made them look up and their eyes widened instantly.

"Natsu is riding the fire dragon!" Lily said with a wince as he held onto his arm.

"Maybe that'll be enough to defeat Rogue," she said breathlessly.

She then saw Gajeel transform his arm onto his sword and dashed at the dragon again. She wasn't too far behind and both of them worked together as they slashed any openings they could find. In occasions, Gajeel would grab Tessa by the arm and throw her for her to slash at the dragon's face. She would support Gajeel by continuing the attacks as he would jump out of the way after doing his own damage. She was graceful as she soared through the air and even if she was knocked out of the way by the dragon's tallon, she would get up and fight more.

They protected one another and watched each other's back. His green aura was combining with her pink one in a whirlpool as their instincts of protection overwhelmed one another. Their bond could be seen as they worked together viciously, not one of them willing to give up. They didn't have to say anything to one another as their movements and expressions could easily be read between them.

This was the power of mates.

The dragon knew they were mates the moment they started to fight together. He knew exactly what would happen if one of them were to die.

What if they both did at the same time?

Tessa saw the incoming attack at him. She moved immediately, raising her creamy hands covered in bruises and blood as she screamed as she raised the diamond wall to cover herself and him. It had worked. Gajeel let out a sigh of relief but it wasn't until a metallic scent reached his nose that made him freeze.

He heard her throat gurgling with uneven gasps and she dropped to her knees as the dragon removed its talons from the wall.

" _ **NO!"**_ He screamed in anguish as she continued to gasp, blood pouring out of where she had been stabbed right through the chest.

One of the claws had made it through the shield, penetrating her.

He felt his soul shattering into thousands of pieces as he cradled her and life left her eyes. He let out a scream of anguish as his magic exploded around him. He could not take it. Not this. He had gone through it one, but he had been practically blessed that Aria had been there and they had back then a blood bond. However this was different. There was no more blood bond and Aria was permanently gone as well. Now Tessa was too. He didn't care that the dragon was approaching him. He felt angry, beyond angry. A fury so powerful bubbling in the pit of his stomach, but his body wasn't responding. Because he was dying already too. His soul had been shattered the moment her heart stopped beating.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to help her overcome Aria's death and continue on, live for her memory. Create new memories together, as a family.

She was his everything and all he could see was her gorgeous smile in her heart shaped face.

The dragon felt a small tingle of pity. With no effort, he lifted his talon and brought it back down on them, crushing them as their bones snapped underneath him.

Lily couldn't believe it. One moment they were working perfectly and the next _**dead**_.

He was shaking and crying so much from his spot underneath of some of the rubble where Tessa had placed him after he injured his arm further. She had kissed his forehead and had kept on fighting with Gajeel.

And Gajeel…

He didn't even attempt to move.

Lily wanted to scream their names, but he couldn't even find his voice through the tears that kept spilling out.

His family was _gone_.

* * *

He had pushed the black dragon out of the way, just to see that Zirconis was about to get Wendy. He was exhausted, but he couldn't let her die. She had been important to _her_ , making sure she had the proper training to become a damn good dragon slayer.

He shoved her out of the way and then he felt his body snap.

* * *

She gasped loudly, like if she was surfacing from being under water for so long. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear as her hand automatically went to her chest where she got impaled by the claw. She was visibly shaking and as her eyes looked at Gajeel, as he was too.

Just what the hell was that?

Suddenly, she saw the dragon attack, the same attack that had killed her. Gajeel reacted and got out of the way before she could even attempt to move. He jumped upwards and he transformed his fist onto his club and hit the dragon right on its eye. The beast howled in pain as it thrashed its head around. Tessa put more distance between herself and the dragon and Gajeel came to join her.

"What was that?" She whispered to him. She was so shaken up by what she saw she was still trying to gather herself. Gajeel ignored the roars from the dragon as it was still having much difficulties to see and pulled her close.

"I'm not sure. I saw it too."

He didn't even want to raise his voice, afraid that it would fail him.

Just then, a battered and injured Lily ran to them. Tessa saw him coming and as he jumped on her arms, wrapping his small paws around her neck as he cried. Whatever that had been, Lily saw it as well and was horrified by it.

She looked up at Gajeel, "We should figure out whatever that was later. Over sized lizard is coming over here."

Gajeel glared at the dragon, "Stand back for a bit. Get your head together before you continue."

She nodded at him as he passed her by, placing a hand on her head. She worriedly looked at his retreating form, by he was right. She was still shaking for what she saw and it would be more dangerous jumping into the fight again like this.

* * *

They weren't the only ones that experienced a moment of a 'dream' sequence. However, only a few would know who was the cause of it. Ur's sacrifice, the one minute she was able to go back in time, was exactly what was needed to make a difference. Many that had died were able to survive and a new vigor was spreading through their veins. Whether they saw it as a premonition or not, they were taking that opportunity of survival.

Everyone was exhausted, everyone was carrying various wounds from either their fight from the dragons or from the hatchlings. But no one was giving up. Humanity depended on it. Everyone could hear the vicious battle up in the sky, of Future Rogue against Natsu. The strength he possessed to not give up, to continue fighting until his last breath if necessary, inspired many to continue fighting.

The destruction was too much. Many homes and businesses have been brought to nothing due to the invasion. Many soldiers gave up their lives to protect the kingdom. This was demonstrating the start of a new era- but an era without dragons.

Suddenly, up in the dark sky, there was a giant explosion of fire and everyone could see both dragons spiraling down at a fast speed. The explosion of fire that was coming down reminded everyone of a supernova as the flames lit up the sky.

Laxus barely had enough time to get Lucy and Wendy out of the way of the door as Mira got Yukino as Natsu was screaming at them to get away from the Eclipse Gate.

The moment the gate was destroyed, there was a wave of magic and the explosion was unlike they had ever seen before. But the door was destroyed and that was exactly what they needed.

Everyone that was near the gate were panting with anticipation, when finally, all the dragons that came through the gate started to glow a golden light. Their bodies were becoming transparent and particles of light were starting to carry them up in the wind as each of the eight dragons were taken back to their time.

Everyone that had been fighting cheered. Some didn't know what had happened, but they weren't about to complain. Humanity wasn't lost.

The adrenaline finally faded from his body as Zarconis and the other dragon faded away. He sat down on the gravel as his gray eyes took an empty look. He ignored the blood coming out of the wounds on his arms.

Wendy had pulled away from Lucy after they had hugged since the gate had been destroyed. She noticed something on the ground and her eyes welled up in tears as she recognized it.

She walked up to it and grabbed it, and then made her way over to Laxus who wasn't looking at anything in particular.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, "Y-You dropped this…"

His head didn't move but his eyes did. On her dirty hands, there was a fingerless glove.

Aria's glove.

The hot pain in his chest came back as he gently grabbed it from her hands. He heard her sniff and his bloodshot eyes looked at her as she was barely holding back the tears. She knew what happened.

Her lip trembled, but as he opened his arms and nodded at her, she flung her small body to his, gripping him tightly as she cried.

Now they could mourn.

* * *

Now that the dragons were gone and feeling weak for not having to kill one, even with both of them working together, they made their way back to the castle. The adrenaline of the fight was gone and she was left exhausted. Emotionally and mentally. She started falling into a pit of mourning, now that nothing was distracting her. Gajeel could smell her tears, so he carried her on her back while Lily curled between the two of them. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let out a shaky breath as she snuggled on the crook of his neck. His grip on her thighs tightened, to let her know he was there to support her and be her strength.

As they walked, he could feel her whimper and shaking. She was finally letting it out, not worrying about a stupid gate or dragons. Just her with her own feelings.

His heart was tugging at the sound of it and as much as he would want to take her pain away, there was nothing he could do. Losing Aria would forever have an impact on Tessa.

It took a while for them to reach the castle, due to all the broken down buildings. Tents were already put up for the injured soldiers and mages from guilds that helped during the invasion. However, through everything, he could see the familiar Fairy Tail flag sweeping with the wind. Dawn was almost there and the cool breeze was softly blowing. As he neared, the familiar head of the lightning dragon came into view.

He had heard what Laxus told Aria just as the final event had started, and as much as he wanted to tell Tessa what he said, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Laxus was a mess. The cool collected asshole of a dragon was suffering and Gajeel pitied him. He never thought that would be the case. Never in a million years. But just on how Tessa lost something, he did too.

Mirajane was the first one to spot them and she quickly went over to them. Tessa carefully removed herself from Gajeel and welcomed the warmth of Mira's embrace. She may be young, but Mira was the mother figure of the guild. Her soft smile and sweet voice seemed to always fill anyone with joy, even through their hardest times.

Tessa cried more as Mira held her and the take over mage comforted her, running her hands through her golden brown locks.

And just like that, everyone started to pay their respects to her. Natsu was serious and quiet. He had witnessed Future Lucy dying, but then finding out about Aria through the Master when everyone started to come together left him feel empty as well. He had liked the woman. She was an exceptional partner to have during a fight. Juvia leaned against Gray as she felt sorrow, and surprisingly, he didn't push her away. He comforted her by wrapping an arm around her. Cana was holding on to Bickslow, who had been quiet ever since the dragons disappeared.

Eventually, Laxus finally had the guts to go up to Tessa. He was nervous. If the woman knew what his last words were to Aria, Tessa would officially hate him. But by the look Gajeel was giving him, it seemed she didn't know.

She felt him coming up to her, and as she wiped her tears, she looked up at him. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but she couldn't say anything because she could see through the dark hue his gray eyes had taken and how bloodshot they were, that he was in so much grief. She knew he was the only one from the entire guild that knew what it was like to lose Aria. Because he had loved her. She always had the suspicion, but seeing his face and the dark circles under his eyes, she knew he had been deeply in love with her.

From his pocket, he pulled out the fingerless glove Aria had worn in the arena. He had the other one in his pocket, the one Wendy gave back, but he knew the other one, the right hand one, belonged to Tessa. She had been Aria's right hand, her support, her family for so long.

She didn't know it was possible for her eyes to cry even more, but she let out a choked sob as she took a hold of the glove. She brought it up to her face and she inhaled her scent. Pine trees combined with the smell of rain. She looked at Laxus again and then she embraced him, her hand gripping for dear life the glove. He held the small woman and he hated that his eyes were burning again.

That's when Porlyusica appeared and her eyes held guilt. Makarov was the first one to spot her and he went up to her.

"What happened?"

Laxus heard and his head rose to see him talking to the old witch. He didn't like the look she had on her face. He pulled away from Tessa and made his way over.

She bit the inside of her cheek as she did not want to say that she had attempted to bring Aria back to life. She didn't want to give them hopes.

"I am not sure what happened," she said carefully and evenly, "But as we were in the mountain range, her body just disappeared. The soldiers carrying her looked for her, but nothing. A bright light had appeared, and she was just gone."

The news hit him like a boulder falling on his body combined with a hot knife digging at his heart. Now they couldn't even bring a body back to be buried.

* * *

A week went by after the dragon incident that the King decided to throw a ball to commemorate the success of the dragons going away and for Fairy Tail winning the games. They were congratulated by others from the other guilds as well as noble people that were invited to the festivities.

They tried to mingle, but those from Fairy Tail were having a hard time to do so.

Evergreen looked at her glass of champagne as she sighed, "So, he didn't come out?"

Freed sighed as he put his hands inside his pants, "No. He wouldn't even open the door at least."

Bickslow shook his head, "He's not doing good man. I took a look… at his soul… it's bad."

She sighed again, "Tessa isn't doing any better. Gajeel stayed in the room with her. It feels like she's doing worse than before."

Gray had been passing by with Juvia when he heard Evergreen, "Today was going to be her birthday."

Evergreen gasped as her eyes automatically welled up in tears again, "Oh my God…"

"How do you know?" Bickslow questioned immediately.

"Juvia had gone back to the room, to see if they needed something. Gajeel came out and through the door I could hear her cry. He's the one that told Juvia," the water mage said sadly.

It seemed that the cloud of sorrow wasn't going to leave them any time soon.

Sting heard them loud and clear from where he stood and his eyes burned. He blamed himself. He really did. Part of him wanted to go and provoke the lightning mage just to put him out of his misery.

Rogue cleared his throat from behind him and pointed, "She's there."

Sting rose his head and his heart skipped a beat as he caught eye of a silver/white head on the crowd. But it wasn't the same shade. And it wasn't her scent. It was Yukino.

He took a deep breath because he knew what he had to do. That's what she would have wanted him to do.

He straightened his shoulders and started walking, "Hey, Yukino!"

* * *

The following day after the party, they went back to Magnolia. The citizens cheered them on the moment they came in, with Natsu holding the trophy big in the air. However, those that really knew him knew that the smile on his face was forced. Laxus lingered all the way of the back of everyone, alongside Tessa and Gajeel. There was a carriage that inside it, was an empty casket.

Tessa despised the fact that they were going to bury an empty casket. She didn't even see her at all. All she could think was Aria's encouraging words for their mission to get Lucy back.

Tessa held on to that memory for dear life. She knew everyone else that had watched the games were remembering her in her worst state. Dead. Her memory was of her _alive_. Grinning at her with her leather one piece and her shoulders covered and ripped jean shirts and thigh high combat boots.

Gajeel could sense her distress again, so he wrapped an arm around her and held her.

Funny enough, even the sky of Magnolia was cloudy.

* * *

A week later, it was the funeral.

Kardia Cathedral was decorated beautifully. The participating guilds of the games got there early on that day. Lucy, Cana, and Levy were making sure everyone would be seated comfortably for the ceremony. All of them were paying their respects to the whole guild, specially those that had been close to her. The weather had not changed whatsoever, as a storm could be felt brewing with anticipation. Blue lilies had been brought to decorate the seats. According to Mira, who had gotten ready the entire thing, Tessa told her those had been Aria's favorite flowers.

Tessa finished getting ready, but she couldn't bring herself from her spot on the bed. In her hand, she still held Aria's glove and her eyes burned again. It just felt so unnatural.

Gajeel came in, dressed in an all black suit. His red eyes settled upon her form.

"It's going to start soon."

She looked up at him and he could see the deep blush on her face as she held back what she felt.

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and asked something else, "Have you talked to Laxus?"

"Last I knew he wasn't talking to anyone."

She sighed heavily. That's not what she was hoping to hear.

She stood up from the bed, her black skirt falling just over her knees as she fixed her sweater. She grabbed her purse and looked at him, "I'll go over to his house. I still have half an hour before it starts and it's on the way anyways."

Gajeel turned around as he had been heading to the door, "Are you sure?"

She wiped her face as she nodded, "Yes. In case Natsu gets out of control or something, you can be there. Maybe Laxus will talk to me."

He sighed but followed her as she made her way out the room. Her small heels clicked on the wooden floor as they walked down the stairs. He locked their house and walked her over to Laxus' place. She had been there once, to find Aria, but because of how much she has cried, the memory was hazy.

When they got there, Gajeel opened the gate to let themselves in. Right at the entrance, Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed stood, all dressed in black. That was the first time Tessa had ever seen the woman with her hair tied back.

Tessa's green eyes moved to the inside of the house, "He's there?"

The three of them exchanged looks and nodded. "He's been inside her room ever since we got back from Crocus," Evergreen softly said.

"Only times he's come out is to shower… but even then that's rare… The last time he ate was three days ago," Freed shook his head.

Bickslow sighed heavily, "He won't talk to us."

A determined look graced her pretty face as she looked at the door. She didn't say anything as she stepped in and went up the stairs. Her nose led her to the room that just reeked of alcohol.

She took a deep breath and brought her small fist to the door and knocked softly, "Laxus? It's Tessa. Please, let me in."

She waited and waited. Just as she was about to knock again, she heard the click of the door and then it was opened. Her throat burned as she took the state he was in. There was deep dark circles under his eyes and they were still bloodshot, probably more than hers.

He opened it wider to let her in. She took in the state of the room, the numerous bottles on the small nightstand and on the bed. She saw some of her clothes scattered everywhere and the frown in her face deepened. They fainlty smelled like her. She closed the door behind her and turned on the light. He winced at the sudden light. He had the curtains closed the entire time he was there.

Something on the dresser caught her attention. Two picture frames.

One was of her and Aria at a music festival in Hargeon when they were seventeen. It had been Aria's idea to see the wizarding band since it was Tessa's favorite. They snuck in through the back and watched the entire thing. They had gotten spotted that they broke in and were kicked out. Outside of it, someone with a lacrima polaroid camera took a picture of them. Tessa had jumped on her, smiling at the camera while doing the peace sign with her tongue sticking out while Aria was giving her a look. It described their personalities perfectly.

The second picture was very hard to look at. It was of Aria and Laxus.

She gently grabbed it as she looked at it close, "When was this? I don't think I ever saw her wearing this before."

He walked up to her as he chugged the bottle in his hand, "Last day of training with the team before the games. I had no clue they took a picture of us. It was a summer festival. Probably Evergreen is the one that knew a picture was taken of us and gave it to her."

Tessa couldn't help it, but a tear fell down and landed on the picture frame. It was a beautiful picture. They were in the middle of the dance floor, with Laxus dipping Aria while the silver haired beauty had the biggest smile on her face. Even Laxus was smiling in the picture. She could see in their eyes that anything else around them didn't matter.

"Are you here to yell at me? Go for it. I deserve it."

His words were very slurred but she was able to make out what he meant, "What are you talking about it?" she asked as she looked at him confused.

"It's my fault she's _dead_. Don't you understand?" the volume of his voice increased, "I let my _stupid fucking jealousy_ get in the way. I didn't hear her out. I told her I didn't wanna have anything to do with her! You—You didn't see her face, the way her eyes _looked_ at me! If I— If I hadn't said that, if I had just heard what she had to say, she would've fought back. She wouldn't have let Minerva end her. Don't you fucking get it Tessa?!" He shouted, " _I killed her!"_

His grip on the bottle in his hand tightened and then hurled it at the wall. It instantly shattered as it made contact with it.

She didn't flinch at his outburst, "It's not your fault. None of this is your fault."

She took a deep breath as she looked at the picture, "This was just a crazy twisted way of fate playing with us. Whoever is up above just wanted to see us suffer. Things went south the night of that bar. I knew it was going to get complicated, but I hoped and prayed you would have your happy ending together. You didn't notice the way she would look at you. She loved you. She did. She was just too stubborn. This whole thing is all kinds of fucked," her voice broke, "She should've been alive after that fight. Minerva shouldn't have gone that far, but she did. That's the only person I point a finger to."

"I should have killed her."

"As pleasant as that would have been, it would not have brought her back."

She sniffed as she rubbed her eyes, "I ask that you please go today. She meant so much to you. If not, you wouldn't be like this."

He walked over to her and carefully grabbed the picture that she was holding.

"I loved her," his soft declaration echoed in the room. She could see the corner of his eyes becoming redder as they were fixed on the picture.

Her voice trembled, "I know you did. I need you to go. You-You are the only one that knows how I'm feeling, besides Gajeel. I'm barely hanging by a thread Laxus. I can't stand knowing that you're in here, killing your liver, on your own. She would hate me if I let you… Just please come..."

She started to cry. Her hand shook as she held her face, " _I miss her!"_

He immediately wrapped his arms around her as she shook. She was so fragile in her current state, he felt she was going to break. She gripped his shirt, not caring that she was getting it dirty, "We were suppose to celebrate her birthday together once we were back home, and instead I'm about to go to her funeral!"

The tears fell from his gray eyes as he held her. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair.

He wasn't sure for how long they were like that in the room, "I'll go."

She nodded against his chest, pleased with his answer, "Shower first. You stink."

And for the first time in so long, he chuckled.

* * *

"This was supposed to be a celebration to all of us. Not just for winning the games but to celebrate her birthday that was a week ago," Makarov said as he stood in the podium. The empty casket was at the front of the altar, Fairy Tail's flag draped over it as a picture of Aria was in a frame right behind it, "But grief has settled upon us. Our hearts are heavy as today we say goodbye to someone that changed our lives.

I still remember the day Tessa and Aria came into the guild. Tessa was ready to help," he stopped as Tessa and Laxus made their way in. They walked all the way at the front, with her pulling at his arm, and had him sit next to her as Gajeel was on her right. He immediately took her hand and she gripped it in gratitude. Makarov nodded at them, glad to see his grandson out of the house, "But Aria was unsure. Oh I could see it in her eyes. But she did it anyways. She took leadership, pointing those that were there to the right direction on what to do. And she gave my grandson a run for his money," scattered chuckles were heard. Even Laxus almost cracked a smile.

"But things weren't easy. Her magic wasn't stable. She needed help. And she got the help she needed and grew into a powerful wizard. She fought hard to get to where she was. Her strong heart is what made me select her for the trials, which was seven years ago for some of you. She protected her guildmates, and even then, she was ready to give up her life to make sure they were okay. You all saw her during the games. A force to be reckoned with! She was selfless. Ready to lend a hand to anyone and not afraid to confront those that were in the wrong. She was indeed, a fighter. Her strength will continue on to live in our hearts. The impact she created, will forever live within us. Today we celebrate her life."

And with that, he raised his right hand, index finger and thumb pointing upwards in sign of their guild, "For Aria."

Natsu was the first one to stand up and he raised his arm, "For Aria."

And then Gray followed along, then Erza, Wendy, Lucy. Little by little everyone that attended rose their hands to join in. Sting's head was bowed down as he got up and rose it. Lector jumped on his shoulder as he cleaned the tears that were coming down from his partner's face.

Gajeel then raised and soon was followed by Tessa. Her tear streaked face turned to look down at Laxus, who's eyes were bearing into the picture that stood there.

 _Come on Sparky, get up._

He gasped, turning his head around because again, he heard her. He swallowed the heavy lump in his throat as he got up, placing his right hand on Tessa's shoulder for support as he raised his left.

"For Aria."

* * *

And that is it! The story has reached its final chapter. I know this probably wasn't the route that some of you were expecting this would go.

However! A sequel is now on the works. So be looking out for that. I'm still struggling on figuring out a title for it. Again, thank you all for your support!


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